LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



1 3 5 A M b 5 5 




I 





a^rZ? 7>y. 




REMINISCENCES 



OF 



BALTIMORE 



BY 
JACOB PREY 




BALTIMORE: 

MARYLA.XD BOOK CONCERN 



1893 






COPVRIGHT, 1893 

By JACOB FREY 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAP. 

Author's Preface. 

I. Introductory 27 

II. Recollections of Boyhood 46 

III. The Mexican War 65 

1Y. In the Roaring Forties 60 

V. Baltimore a Convention City 102 

VI. The Turn of the Tide 112 

VII. The War Cloud 12", 

VIII. After the Sturm 139 

IX. Charity and Reorganization 146 

X. The Constitution of '64 and '67 162 

XI. Commotions and Alarms 177 

XII. Grove, tin- Photographer 197 

XIII. Baltimore's Military Defenders 211 

XIV. Banking Extraordinary 221 

XV. " Continued 235 

XVI. The Sequence of a Crime 212 

XVII. The Wharton-Ketchum Case and Others 266 

XVIII. A Chapter of Chat 2s0 

XIX. The Story of a Reformation 293 

XX. The Story of Emily Brown 301 

XXI. In Recent Years 311 

XXII. The Marshal's Office 320 

XXIII. The Press. >f Baltimore 332 

XXIV. The Stage in Baltimore 340 

XXV. Educational Institutions and Public Works 364 

XXYI. Baltimore Markets 389 

XXVII. The Harbor of Baltimore 4"2 

XXVIII. Industrial Baltimore 417 

XXIX. Street Railways and Their Relation to Urban Development . . . 434 

XXX. Busy Men and Fair Women 443 

XXXI. Public and Recent Buildings 456 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Portrait of Jacob Frey Frontispiece 

Pratt Street Opposite Page, 30 

Washington Monument " 11 

Charles Street at Franklin — Looking North " 52 

Portrait of C. F. Meyer " " 56 < 

Portrait of F. L. Latrobe " " 72 

Odd Fellows' Hall " " 90 

Phcenix Club " " 111) 

Maryland Club " " lb! 

Taney Statue " " 130 

Portrait of Chief Justic Taney " " 132 

Fountain in Patterson Park " " 136 

Associate Reformed Church " 158 

Portrait of Reverdy Johnson " 1G6 

Cathedral , " " 192 

Cardinal's Residence and Cathedral " 194 

Zion Church " " 210 

Eutaw Place " -' ls 

Synagogue 314 

Portrait of Enoch Pratt " " 372 

Pratt Library " " 374 

Broadway " 3S2 

Entrance to Druid Hill Park " " 384 

Lake, Druid Hill Park " " 386 

Silver Spring, Druid Hill Park " " 390 

Baltimore " " 402 

St. Paul Street Bridge, over (oiks Kails 431 

Harlem Square " 442 

Portrait of lames Hodges " 446 

Portrait of R. C. Davidson " " t"' 11 

Old Post Office " " 450 

Kaminsakv Inn " 4(52 



INDEX. 



A. 

, ., . r. . . 335 
Abell, A. S 32 

Academy, Established in 179 s " 

Academy of Music, Incorporated 

Agnus, General Felix 

Albaugh, John William 

American Bank Building 

American Party, or Know-nothings, The 

American Seamen Impressed by the English 

America's First Railway " 

"Annabel Lee," Poe's wife, the original of 

Anniversary of the City, The 150th • 

Anti-Registration Convention of 1S66 

Archer, defalcations of State Treasurer 

Architectural Features of Baltimore . . ^ 

Arrest of Prominent Citizens by Gen. Dix 

Athletic Exercises for the Policemen gg 

Awls used as Stilettos 

B. 

298 

Bagnio, War on a 177 

Baltimore and Ohio Riots of 1S57 

Baltimore and Ohio Strike of 1S77 ((|( , 

Baltimoreans in a Tropical Hurricane g6g 

Baltimore College, The :v2 

Baltimore Dispensary Incorporated ' ^ 

Baltimore Female College, The gQ 

"Baltimore," 111 Fortune of the Ship 358 

Baltimore Museum, The Old 74 

Baltimore Soldiers in Mexico, Behavior of ■ ^ 

"Baltimore," The Cruiser ' 2U 

Bank Robbers and their Patience 4g 

Banks Chartered, The earliest o-n 

Banks Swindled by the Brock way Gang Zi2 

Bank Thief captured 31 

Baptist Church, The First in Baltimore . 

1 



Barnum's Bequest to Education, Dr. Zenas 370 

Barnum's City Hotel 43 

Barnum's generosity, Phineas T 81 

Battle Monument 380 

Beauty of Baltimore Belles 454 

Becker the Crook and his career 235 

Belair Market 401) 

Bell and Cleary extradited 227 

Belt Line Railway Tunnel 440 

Belvedere, the Howard Homestead 451 

Benton and Rigdon, Slaying of Policemen 63 

Blockade in the War of 1S12 35 

Bluckade of Trains at Martinsburg, W. Va 180 

Booth, Anecdotes of the Elder 361 

Booth Family in Baltimore, The 360 

Booth's Kindness to Animals, The Elder 361 

Border State Savings Bank Building 404 

Boundaries of the City, The Early 27 

Boundaries of Baltimore in 1S40 51 

Boston, The Fifth Md. Regiment in 218 

Bowie, ex-Governor Oden 447 

Boyd, Death in Action of Captain 78 

Breckenridge Covention of 1S60, The 109 

Broadway Market 401 

Brockway and His Gang, Charles C 221 

Brockway the Forger Arrested 232 

Brown, appointed State Treasurer, Edwin H 318 

Brown, Arrest of Mayor 129 

Brown, Courage of Mayor 123 

Brown, The Story of Emily 301 

Bruce Fellowship, The 370 

Builders' Exchange Association Building 463 

Burking Case, The Emily Brown 301 

Business Colleges 374 

Butler's Occupation of Baltimore, Gen 126 



c. 

Calvert Building and Construction Co 462 

Calvert Family, Colors of the 311 

Canton Market 401 

Captain of Police, The Author Appointed a 152 

Carey, Escape from Arrest of Miss Hettie 453 

"Cataract," The Fire-boat 412 

Celebration of the City's 150th Anniversary 311 

Central Savings Bank Building 463 

Centre Market 400 

2 



Charity Work of the Police 32G 

Charleston Convention of 1S60 105 

Charleston Earthquake, The Great 324 

Churches as Political Convention Halls 102 

City Government, Changes in the :!:i 

City Hall, The New 28, 457 

City of Mexico, Celebration of Fall of the 79 

City Passenger Railway 13° 

Clarke, John Sleeper 353 

Clay, Observance of the Death of Henry 61 

Clay, Ovation to Henry 44 

Cleary and Bell Extradited 227 

Coal Fields, Proximity to ±23 

Coastwise Trade, The ±27 

Cole's Harbor *°8 

Collapse of a Convention Floor 1"' 

Colleges, The Business :! ' * 

Colored Militia Companies restrained 155 

Commerce of the Port 29, 404 

Confederate Army, Baltimoreans in the 134 

Confederate Flag, Attempt to hoist the 117 

Confederate Flag, Union Troops behind the 120 

Conflagration of July, 1S73 ' ss 

Constitution, Adoption of a New 142 

Constitutional Conventions 162, 17 -' 

Convention City, Baltimore as a !"- 

Conway, Attack on Bank-watchman 246 

"Corsica," Attack on the Steamer ■ . . . 3'.»3 

Courts, Changes in the 33 

Criminal Code Amended 32 

Criminals of Early Times, Some Noted 4 1 

Cropps' Crime, Marion ''' 

Gross Street Market 40l _' 

"Cull Law," Passage of the 395 

D. 

Davidson, Robert C "'' 

Davis, Killing of Robert W • ■ • ■ '-'- 

Death Sentence Dramatically emphasized ' 2u9 _ 

Debuts on the Baltimore Stage 3 °7 

1 Menders, Monument to Baltimore's 37 _ 

Defenses of Baltimore in 1812 ■ 3( 

Democratic Conventions 52,105, 110 

Denny and Ferguson, The Pirates 43 

Deputy Marshal, Jacob Frey appointed 157 

Desperation of a Murderer on Trial - l! 

Difficulties in Suppressing Vice - s - 

3 



Dingle, Murder of fames 205 

Dissection, Murdered for 305 

Dix, Martial Rule of Gen. John A 129 

Dobbin, Robert A 333 

Donovan Professorship, The 370 

Douglas Convention of 1S60, The 105 

Douglas Nominated for President, Stephen A 109 

Drama in Baltimore, The 346 

Drovers' and Mechanics' Bank Building 464 

Druid Hill Park 382 

E. 

Earthquake in South Carolina, The Great 324 

Editors Incarcerated in Fort McHenry 340 

Editors with Courage 342 

Educational Matters 364 

Election Riots 95 

Elevated Railway Construction begun 442 

Elliott's Criminal Career 245 

Emigrants Objected to 28 

Equitable Building, The 460 

Escape from a Turkish Prison 236 

Europe, Steamship Traffic with ■ 427 

Eutaw Savings Bank, Attempt to Rob the .... • . . . • 2S0 

Exchange Publication Office Sacked • 343 

Export Business in 1805-6 35 

Export Trade, Value of Baltimore's . ... ■ 426 

F. 

Fair, The Southern Relief 146 

Fall of Fifty Feet, The Author's 60 

Farlow Appointed Marshal, Colonel 152 

Fanners' and Merchants' National Bank 462 

Fatal Excursion, A 91 

Fatal Fight between Troops and Citizens 121 

Federal Hill, Butler's Defenses on 136 

Federal Hill Park 384 

Federal Troops in the City 125 

Fell's Point Market 400 

Female College, The Baltimore 374 

Ferguson and Denny, The Pirates 43 

Ferguson, Memorial of William 382 

Fidelity and Deposit Company Building • 463, 465 

Fifth Regiment, The 211 

Fire-boat "Cataract" 412 

Firemen, Riotous Tendencies of the 58, 88 

First National Bank, organized 131 



Fisheries of Maryland 397 

Flag Presented to the Fifth Regiment 215 

Flas Presented to Volunteers for Mexico 77 

Fleet of Merchantmen, The 427 

Floods in Baltimore 193 

"Ford," Fatal Voyage of the Yacht 159 

Ford, John T • 347 

Forgery as a Fine Art ■ • 223 

Forest-Macready Excitement, The 350 

Fortifications of Baltimore, 1S61-1865 . . . -. 129, 136 

Forty-nine, The Gold Fever of 88 

Fourth Presbyterian Church Dedicated 129 

Fraud, Curiosities of 2S5 

Franklin and Powhattan Railway • 131 

Freedmen's Bureau Established 169 

Free Library, The Pratt 372 

Free Schools, Introduction of. • 365 

Frey Gotlieb 46 

Frey Appointed Captain of Police, Jacob 153 

Frey Appointed Deputy Marshal, Jacob 157 

Frey Assaulted in Court, Deputy Marshal 273 

Frey Promoted to be Marshal, Jacob 320 

Frey, Mrs. Mary Ann (nee Hines) 47 

Frugality of Early Times 28 

Fulton, Charles C • 333 

Future of Baltimore, The 430 



Q. 

Gallows, How Unger Escaped the 274 

Game in Maryland 398 

Garrett, Miss Mary 452 

Gift Concert Swindle. The 158 

Gold Fever of [849, The 88 

Goss Mystery, The 252 

Government, Changes in the City 33 

Grain Elevators of the B. & O. R. R 414 

Grain Trade of Baltimore 424 

Granger, Killing of lames 208 

Gray Appointed Marshal, John T 157 

Gray, Resignation of Marshal 32u 

Cray, John T 152 

( i-reeley Nominated for President, Horace Ill 

Greely Expedition, Departure of the 314 

"Groome," Capture of the Police Sloop 392 

Grove, the Photographer, Murder of ." 197 

Gymnasiums for the Policemen 326 

5 



H. 

Habeas Corpus Suspended, Writ of 126 

Halls Springs and Harford Railway 131 

Hampton Roads held by the British 35 

Hanover Market 400 

Harbor of Baltimore 402, 413 

Harbor Survey of 1799 29 

Harper, Robert Goodloe 41 

High Schools, Establishment of 366 

Highway Robbery, A Bogus Case of 287 

Hildebrand's Ready Shot, Henry 208 

Hollins Market 401 

Hollohan's Crime and Execution 271 

Hopkins Hospital, The Johns 459 

Hopkins, Johns 368 

Hopkins, Rigid Economy of Johns 439 

Hopkin's University, The Johns 368 

Horn, Execution of Adam 49 

Hospital, The Johns Hopkins 459 

Hotel Rennert, The 466 

Houston, Ovation to General Sam 67 

Howard, John Eager 38 

Howard, Mrs. John E 450 

Humors of Police Experience 288 

Hyer-Sullivan Prize Fight, The 82 



Incendiarism for Fun 58 

Industrial School, St. Mary's 374 

Industries, Variety of Baltimore's 419 

Insurance Companies Defrauded 252 

" Insurgente," Capture of the Frigate 31 

Iron-clad Oath of the Constitution of 1S64 164 

J. 

Jackson, Ball in Honor of General 43 

Jackson's Death, Commemorative Observance of 54 

Japanese Embassy, Visit of the 100 

Jarrett, Henry C 352 

Jefferson's Career in Baltimore, Joseph 351 

Johns Hopkins Hospital 459 

Johns Hopkins University 368 

Johnson, Impeachment of President 155 

Johnson, Mexican War Speech of Reverdy 67 

"John T. Ford," Fatal Voyage of the Yacht 159 

Jones' Falls, Survey of 29 

6 









K. 

Kane, Appointment of Marshal 100 

Kane, Arrest of Marshal 127 

Kenly Appointed Provost Marshal 127 

Kenly, Captain John R 68, 127, 130, 134 

Kenly, Excitement over reported death of 130 

Ketchum, Poisoning of General 266 

Key, Francis Scott 409 

Kidnapping, A Bogus Case of 2s.~, 

King, Frank B 415 

Knights Templars' Convention of 1871 4"> 

Know-nothing Movement, The 90 

Know-nothing Riot of November, 1S56 'J', 

Kni iw-nothing Rule Ended 101 

Know-nothings Sack a Newspaper Office 343 

Kossuth, Visit of Louis 55 

Kunkel, George 3 is 

L. 

Lake Roland Elevated Railway 412 

Lamarde, Suicide of Murderer Jean 12 

Lampley, Murder of Mrs 271 

Lanier, Sydney 381 

Lannan, Deputy Marshal 320 

"Lannan," The Police Boat 402 

Law Building, The 4i'.4 

Lexington Market 395 

Library, The Pratt Free 372 

Lincoln's Assassination 133 

Lincoln's passage through Baltimore 115 

Lind and the School Children, Jenny 355 

Lind, Ovation to Jenny 354 

Lind, Visit of Jenny 80 

"Liverpool of America," The 427 

Locust Point 414 

Lottery Support of Education 32. 

M. 

Mail Robbers Hanged 42 

Manufactures of Bailtimore 417 

Manufacturing Interests, Great Growth of 419 

Markets of Baltimore 389 

Marsh, or Centre Market 400 

Martial Law Proclaimed 126> 

Maryland's Attempted Neutrality in 1861 11" 

Maryland Club Building 458 

7 



Maryland Club House Confiscated 169 

Maryland's Fisheries 397 

.Maryland's Game Birds 398 

Maryland's Loyalty Asserted in 1861 173 

Maryland Steel Co., Works of the 415 

Maryland's Tribute to Her Dead Soldiers 78 

"Massachusetts, "Voyage of the Transport 71 

Mayer, Charles F 413 

Macready-Forrest Excitement, The 350 

"Marie Roget," Origin of Poe's Story of 85 

McCoy, Bequest of John W ■ • 309 

McDonough's Bequest to Baltimore, John 161, 371 

McDonough Farm School, The 375 

McDonough Monument 381 

Mi Henry, British Bombardment of Fort 37 

McHenry, Fort 408 

" Mi :adows," Former bad Character of the 232 

"Medora," Explosion of the Steamboat 50 

Menzies, Persecution of Mrs. James 275 

Methodist Free School Founded 32 

Merchantmen, The Fleet of 427 

Metropolitan Police, Creation of the 99 

Mexican War, The 65 

Military aspect of Baltimore in War Times 129 

Militia of Baltimore 211 

Miller, the Confidence Man 289 

Monterey, Advance on 74 

Monterey, Fall of 76 

Monuments in Baltimore 380 

Moral Disease, Problem of Dealing with 293 

Morality Fostered 57 

Morse's Proud Day, Inventor S. F. B 53 

Mount Clare Depot Attacked by Strikers 185 

Moxley, Thomas 349 

Murdered for Dissection 305 

Murderers Speedily Punished 41 

Murderer, Tracking a 201 

Music in Baltimore 346 

Music, Incorporation of Academy of 131 

N. 

Names, Baltimore's Honored 38 

National Bridge, Fighting at the 77 

National Conventions in Baltimore 102 

National Guard, Re-organization of the 219 

Navassa Island 405 

Negro Question, The 170 

8 



"New Departure" Convention of 1S72 Ill 

News-Gathering Extraordinary :;;!s 

New South, Steamship Traffic with the ... 429 

Newspapers of Baltimore, The 332 

Newspapers Suppressed 129 

New York, Baltimore's Gift of a Flag to 55 

Nicholson's Crime and Execution 271 

Normal School, St. Catharine's 374 

Normal School, The State 367 

Northern Bitterness Against Baltimore 122 

North Point, Baltimoreans Killed at 37 

O. 

"Old Brick Hotel," The 301 

Opera in Baltimore 3 n; 

Oriole Parade of October, 18S1 313 

Owens, John E 353 

Oyster Battles of 1888 and 1SS9 392 

Oyster Business, Extent of the 3H0 

Oyster Dredging, Method of .'i'.il 

( lystermen and Their Experiences 389 

( lysler Navy of Chesapeake Bay, The 392 

P. 

Palo Alto, Battle of 69 

Panic at a Convention 104 

Park Fund, The 382 

Parks of Baltimore 382 

Patapsco, The River 413 

Patriotism in Revolutionary Times 31 

Patro> Wagons for Police Work 326 

Patterson Park 384 

Peales as Theatrical Managers, The 358 

Peale, Charles William 358 

Pegram, Mrs. John (Hettie Carey) 4.V2 

Penitentiary Authorized, Erection of a 32 

Pennsylvania Steel Works, The 420 

Peoples, Bank Robbed 247 

Pesenti's Crucifix 149 

"Petrel," Launch of the Gun-boat 4o:i 

Philadelphia Oyster Dredgers Attacked 3S0 

Philadelphia, The Fifth Md. Regiment in 217 

Phosphate Factories 413 

"Pig Alley," Emily Brown's Home in 304 

Pigei ins as News Carriers 33D 

"Pinola," Building of the Gun-boat *12'.i 

Piratical Oystermen Arrested 3'JO 

9 



Poe, Edgar Allen 84 

Poe Monument 381 

Poetic Suicide, A 410 

Police Beneficial Association 151 

Police Board Arrested 141 

Police Boat "Lannan" 402 

Police Commissioners Superseded 141 

Police, Creation of the Metropolitan 99 

Police Department, Government of the 143 

Police Districts, The 32.3 

Police Force, Beginings of the 34 

Police Force Disbanded, The Ok! 100 

Police Force, Re-organizations of the 143, 152 

Police Headquarters, Work at 330 

Policemen's Back Pay Claims Settled 160 

Police Pensions 152 

Police, Reliance upon the 327 

Political Dissensions After the War 139 

Political Parties of 1S66 172 

Population in iSoo 2S 

Port, National Importance of the 427 

Post Office Building 458 

Pratt, Enoch 448 

Pratt Free Library 372 

Presbyterian Church, Dedication of the Fourth 129 

Press, Acknowledgment to the 325 

Press of Baltimore, The 332 

Privateers, Depredations by 30 

R. 

Railroad Bridges Destroyed by Police 122 

Railroad Facilities 429 

Railway Companies Incorporated 130 

Randolph, Dying Journey of John 44 

Rapid Transit Systems 440 

Ravages on Shore by the British 36 

Rebellion in School 48 

Reformation of a Fallen Woman 294 

Reform Bills of 1S60 99 

Registration Act of 1S64 139 

Registration LawofiS65 ' 169 

Religious Spirit of the People 57 

Rennert, The Hotel 466 

Richmond Market 401 

Richmond, News of the Fall of 133 

Ridgely, Death of Captain Randolph 76 

Rigdon and Benton, Slaying of Policemen 63 

10 



Ringgold, Heroic Death of Major 69 

Rioters Fired Upon by the Police 180 

Riots at Elections 95 

Robbery, A Bogus Case of Highway 287 

Rogers, Mysterious Murder of Mary 80 

Roland Elevated Railway, Lake 442 

Rollins, Thornton 44:) 

"Rosebud Sociables," The 307 

Ross, Crime and Execution of 306 



Sabbath Observance fifty years ago 57 

Safe Deposit Company of Baltimore 131 

School Act of 18 16 366 

School Boys' Battles 48 

School Farm, The 375 

School Fund, The Earliest 364 

Schools, The First 365 

School System, Development of the 366 

Secession Sentiment in Baltimore 112 

Secret Political Societes Denounced 93 

Seizure of Public Property by Gen. Butler 1 2~ 

Sesqui-Centennial Anniversary of the City 311 

Shaking Up the Police Deprecated 280 

Ship-building in the "Forties" ■ 56 

Ship-building of the Present Time 103 

Ship-yards of Early Times 29 

Social Evil, Perplexing Aspects of the 293 

Soldier Vote, Provisions relating to the 165 

Sparrow's Point, Ship-yards at 415 

Stage in Baltimore, The 346 

St. Catherine's Normal School 374 

Steamship Traffic of the Port 427 

Steuart, George H 135 

Stewart, William A 446 

St. Mary's Industrial School 374 

St. Mary's University • . . . . ■ 374 

"St. Nicholas," S< izure of the Steamer 128 

St. Peter's Male Free School 374 

Stock Exchange, The 426 

StreetCar Lines j: 'l 

" Mileage of the 442 

Sucideofa Poet 410 

Sumner, Demonstration against Charles 118 

11 



. 116 
Sumter, Fall of Fort 157 

Sunday Cars, First Running of gg5 

Sunday Newspaper, The First 338 

Sun, Pony Express of the Baltimore g? 

"Surveyor," Capture of the Cutter ggl _ 

Susquehanna, Fish in the ^ 

Swedish Nightingale, The 

T. 

131 

Taney, Death of Chief Justice 78 

Taneyhill, Death in Action of Lieutenant ^ 

Teachers, Trying Times for 53 

Telegraphic Communication Inaugurated ^ 

Terminal Facilities ' 3g g 

Terrapin, The 28 

Theatres Unpopular in Early Times ' UG 

Theatrical Matters in Baltimore ogg 

Third National Bank Robbed by Becker ^ 

Thomas, Ex-Governor Francis . . . . ^ 

Tierra Caliente, Fighting in the g7 

Travis, Bravery of Captain Samuel 22g 

Trapping "a Crook 117 

Troops, Repugnance to Passage of ' 21i 

"Trunk Mystery," The Great gg7 

Tucker, Mrs. Harvey 440 

Tunnel of The Belt Line 2g6 

Turkish Prison, Becker's Escape from a g7o 

Turnbull Lectureship, The 53 

Tyler Convention of 1S40 

u. 

959 

Udderzook's Conspiracy and Tragic Career ^ 

"Uncle Perry's Plot," The Farce of ^ 

Unger's Crime and Confession 130 

Union Flags, Compulsory Display of ^ 

Union Troops Attacked 

V. 

* 35 

Valuation in 179S „.g 

Van Ness, Attempted Poisoning of Eugene 

Van Nostrand appointed Marshal 

Vice, Difficulty of Suppressing gg 

Volunteers for the Mexican War 

12 



w. 

340 

Wallis, S. Teackle .,. 

War of 1812 ' 40g 

War Ships Built in Baltimore 

" Sent to Suppress a Riot 

Water-front, Extent of the M 

Water Supply Company Incorporated ^ 

Watson's Death at Monterey, Colonel ^ 

Wells and McComas Monument 2g6 

Wharton-Ketchum Case, The ~ iw 

Whetstone Point g2 

Whig Convention of 1840 ' t 

Whig-Know-nothing Convention of i860 gg] 

Wildey Monument ; ; ; 

Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Barney 4g2 

Wilmington's Rivalry as a Port ' y ^ 

Wool, Baltimore under Command of General 



13 



The recollections of a lifetime spent in an active city 
in a busy age can hardly fail to present a picture which 
shall have at least some interesting details. The value of 
the narrative will depend upon the selection of material as 
well as upon the skill of the narrator. I do not pretend 
to have written an exhaustive history of Baltimore; any- 
thing further from my intention than this cannot be con- 
ceived. Neither have I tried to give in anything like their 
chronological sequence a full record of the important 
events of the past fifty years. That would be the work of 
a historian and such I do not pretend to be, nor is there 
need, it seems to me, for another book of chronicles of our 

city. 

Every man who is at all in touch with his times and 
appreciates in the least the significance of the things which 
transpire about him every day, has material which may be 
of value should he contribute it to the general fund of 
reminiscence and observation. Every man who thinks at 
all is more or less of a spectator and each of us must see 
the world a little differently, so that old facts take on new 
faces, because we each observe through different eyes. I 
suspect that we each have our own pet colored glasses and 
whether we call them "bias" or " prejudice " or "individ- 
uality," the result remains the same; we each have a story 
to tell that is all our own because each man sees and 
observes in'his own way. 

Very long ago a wise man wrote that " of making of many 



26 BALTIMORE. 

books there is no end": yet we cannot help wondering 
what Solomon would have thought could he have wandered 
among the alcoves of the Peabody Library, or the Pratt. 
His royal eyes would no doubt have opened very wide. 
Now let me forestall the critic who may not spare me for 
adding one more book to the already interminable list. I 
shall not apologize for assuming the responsibilities of 
authorship, because I believe that when a man has anything 
to say, that fact becomes his best excuse for saying it. I 
trust that it will not appear to the reader as though the 
present author has abused the prevailing fashion. 

The men — so man) - of whom have passed away — the fash- 
ions of life and thought and action, the deeds that have 
been done and outgrown, the courses and causes that have 
helped shape the city o-f Baltimore into what it is to-day ; 
and, indeed, all of the various factors that enter into the sum 
of our urban life, business and character, have an interest for 
thousands of people. Owing to the opportunities of a life 
of official activity, personal contact with man)' public men 
and participation in many noteworthy events, I cannot but 
feel that I have a story to tell. 

It is in the telling of the story that I may fail to interest 
those whom I would like to have as readers and here I may 
have to fall back upon the leniency of the court after all. 

I have tried to avoid the reopening of old wounds, the 
reawakening of old animosities, whether personal or politi- 
cal. Wherever a public measure of moment has been dis- 
cussed I have striven to present the facts of the case in a 
dispassionate manner and have left out personalities that 
might give needless pain. As to the style in which these 
recollections are presented, I have nothing to say ; in that 
matter, as, indeed, in all others, I must patiently await the 
judgment of my readers. 



CHAPTER I. 




INTRODUCTORY. 

HE last half century embraces the most 
active portion of Baltimore's history and 
over this period my recollections extend. 
I have thought it well to say something 
at the outset about Baltimore, as it was 
at the beginning of this century, and con- 
trast its condition then with that at the 
time of my birth, so that the reader may 
be able better to appreciate the increased rapidity of devel- 
opment in latter years. 

The town at that early day was confined to Eells Point 
and vicinity — that is, mainly to the eastward of Jones' Falls 
and reaching back but a very short distance to the north- 
ward. 

There were not many palatial houses, though a few 
made pretensions to architectural beauty. The majority of 
the buildings, both dwellings and stores, were simple, as 
befitted the habits of the people who owned them. Here 
and there some house of worship bravely lifted its wooden 
spire above the surrounding roofs. 



28 BALTIMORE. 

Places of amusement there were none, except a hall for 
dancing called the Assembly Room, until some years later. 
A petition is now extant, signed by some two hundred and 
seventy-nine names in iS 1 2, January 4th, and sent to the 
mayor of Baltimore. In it "all exhibitions of the theatre, 
circus and all others of like character," are referred to "as 
being- injurious to religion, morality, good order and life." 
A "recent" accident, which occurred at Richmond, Va., is 
cited as a signal instance of the evil that might visit those 
who had to do with theatres. 

Great care was taken at that early day as to who should 
be admitted to the privilege of a residence in Baltimore. 
In 1805 James Madison, then Secretary of State for the 
United States, sent a letter enclosing a copy of correspond- 
ence to the mayor of Baltimore. The enclosure was from 
Antwerp, announcing the departure of two ship-loads of 
destitute emigrants from that place, to be landed in Balti- 
more. The Secretary of State sagely suggested that there 
might be something in Maryland laws to prevent their 
landing. 

The people of Baltimore were frugal. A dollar did not 
come as readily at that day as it does now and it has wisely 
been said that there was hardly a pauper or a millionaire 
in all the land. Men saved and lived plainly and took pride 
in their plain ways. That was why, in 179", Mayor James 
Calhoun received a petition or letter of protest against the 
erection of a new City Hall, then proposed. The ground 
of the opposition, with which were associated some promi- 
nent names, was that it would entail excessive taxation to 
put up such a building, and that it was not necessary at 
the time. Eleven years afterwards the plan was carried 
out. 

In 1800 a census of the city was made which gave a total 



INTRODUCTORY. 29 

of thirty-one thousand five hundred and fourteen people, of 
whom two thousand eight hundred and forty-three were 
slaves. This census showed an increase of eighteen hun- 
dred and eleven people in ten years. In 1797 Capt. David 
Porter, Sr. built a signal-tower " opposite, but not near to, 
the city" on Federal Hill. 

Pratt Street was opened as far as the Falls in 1S11 ; North 
Street, then called North Lane, was ordered extended 
about 1 S 1 6. Centre Street, from Howard to the Falls, was 
opened in 1S07. So we see that the little city of that day 
did not extend as far as the present site of the Washington 
Monument on one side, was limited by the Falls on the east, 
and regarded Federal Hill from afar as a green spot, prob- 
ably a pleasant country walk on a spring day. A plan of 
the city waspublished by Charles Yarle in 1799, and another 
somewhere near the same date by George Keating. 

Before the city was chartered, Jones' Falls had been 
surveyed and their extent determined as sixty feet above 
Baltimore Street bridge and eighty feet below it. A survey 
of the harbor was made in 1799 ar >d confirmed in 1S07, and 
at the same time it was resolved by the authorities to widen 
and deepen the Falls. 

In 1S00 a law was passed authorizing the corporation of 
Baltimore to introduce water into the city and a society 
was formed by Robert G. Harper and others, who obtained 
a charter and in the year 1S04 bought a mill property near 
the city, proposing to raise the water by water-power to an 
elevated reservoir and thence distribute it by means of a 
canal. This society or company was finally incorporated in 
180S, and I believe that it was the first attempt made to 
meet the growing needs of the city in this direction. 

A considerable commerce had developed and at an early 
da) - there were ship-yards and many people whose business 



30 BALTIMORE. 

had to do almost altogether with vessels. Of course the 
foreign depredations on our commerce was felt by them 
very severely and the complaints were not mouthed. 

The privateers even sailed into American ports, it will be 
remembered, and seized American vessels. The " Hope," 
Captain Rogers, was taken in this way as a lawful prize, 
and so was the " Plato," commanded by Captain Lawren- 
son. This was almost too much for American endurance. 
The frigate " Constellation," of thirty-six guns, was built 
at Harris Creek; Captain Truxon was assigned to her. A 
little while afterwards the ships " Baltimore " and " Monte- 
zuma," merchantmen, were fitted with twenty guns each 
and made ready to act as convoys. But the captain of the 
" Baltimore" came to grief — in this way: Having convoyed 
a number of American vessels to Cuba he met a British 
squadron under Admiral Loring, who treacherously invited 
Captain Philips of the " Baltimore" on board of his flagship, 
and while he entertained him there, caused more than 
fifty men to be taken off the American fleet under the old 
pretense that they were British seamen. Philips protested 
bitterly and at last, by what arguments we do not know, 
induced the admiral to restore all but five. As Captain 
Philips had no commission for his vessel he thought it the 
part of wisdom not to press the matter any further and 
allowed Loring to carry away the five sailors, believing, as 
he afterwards stated, that the government would find some 
better means of redress. But the government did not see 
the matter with Captain Philips' eyes, and that unfortunate 
officer was cashiered without a hearing upon his return to 
the United States. 

America was the under dog in the fight, having to pro- 
tect herself as best she might against both England and her 
former ally, France. In 179", after the French Directory 



INTRODUCTORY. 31 

had refused to receive or to listen to our commissioners, 
Messrs. Pinkney, Marshall and Gerry, all claims being paid 
in full, the United States resolved to annul the treaty with 
France and prepare for war. Congress in July voted an 
addition to the army and navy. At the same time the 
seizure of armed French vessels was authorized. 

General Washington accepted command of the army 
again. One of the new brigadier-generals whom he ap- 
pointed was Colonel Howard, of Baltimore. The people 
of this place were already greatly worked up and ready for 
war measures. There has never been a time in the history 
of the Monumental City when her people have not shown a 
brave and loyal regard for her interests and an eagerness to 
stand up for her rights. This was the case at the time 
of which we are now speaking. Two new troops of vol- 
unteers were immediately raised and Captains James Biays 
and Bentalon took command of them. 

David Porter, Jr., whose father built the watch-tower on 
Federal Hill, was a midshipman on board the old "Con- 
stellation." John Rogers and Andrew Sterrett with a num- 
ber of Baltimore boys were present and aided in the 
capture of the French frigate " Insurgente," on the 9th 
of February, 1799. There was considerable hardship on 
account of the war. Even flour, which had been $8, rose to 
$ 10 a barrel. 

About the time that the dancing hall already spoken of 
was projected there was a Baptist Church established, the 
first in the city. A short time afterwards the Sweden- 
borgians built the " New Jerusalem Temple." That was 
in 1 799. The presence of the members of new faiths had 
only just begun to be felt in Maryland. Before that the 
Catholic Church and the English or Episcopal were enough 
for most of the people. 



32 BALTIMORE. 

The first generation after the Revolutionary War saw 
many changes ; it was a time of reconstruction and exper- 
iments in creeds as well as in politics and institutions. 

An academy was started on Greene and Franklin Streets 
in 1798. Its projector was Bishop William DuBoury, of 
Louisiana. The money for this establishment of learning 
was raised by means of a lottery, a thing which in the days 
of our fathers and grandfathers was looked upon as being 
perfectly proper. Diplomas to graduates of this academy 
were granted by the Legislature of Maryland. After a few 
years the buildings were enlarged and a church or chapel 
added. 

The Methodist society founded a free school for children 
in 1 80S, at a day when education cost more to the individ- 
ual than it does to-day. A little earlier than this the Rev- 
erend Doctor Bend and others had started a similar school 
on Prince Street, for the education of poor female chil- 
dren. 

In 1807 the Baltimore Dispensary, a noble and useful 
institution, was incorporated. A few years previous to this 
there had been a law passed regulating the practice of med- 
icine and surgery, requiring diplomas and registered licenses 
to be obtained — a bit of enlightened legislation which was 
not imitated in some of the sister states for a number of 
years. It was about this time that the yellow fever broke 
out with violence in Philadelphia, and Baltimore was obliged, 
after sending all the aid she could, to quarantine her neigh- 
bor on the North. 

As an offset to the churches, schools and chanties of 
those days, we read that the Legislature decided that the 
city needed a penitentiary and in 1804 resolved to erect 
one. Five years later the Criminal Code was amended and 
the number of capital offences was reduced to four, viz.: 



INTRODUCTORY. 33 

murder, rape, arson and treason. Before that there had 
been a number of offences punishable with death, as on 
the old English statute books, where there was evidence 
that a man's lite was valued at less than that of a sheep. 

Let us glance at the changes in the courts, city govern- 
ment, etc. Before 1797 the criminal business of the city 
and county was conducted by the same courts and officers. 
In that year, however, it was changed and the City Court 
made separate, but the county justices remained justices 
of both as before. A couple of years after this change 
another was made. Lev) - courts were organized to take 
charge of all business not judiciary and so relieve the ex- 
isting courts. This made necessary the appointment of 
eleven new justices. A very important function of the 
courts of justices, that had anciently been exercised by the 
vestries of the different parishes, was the appointment of 
tobacco inspectors. These appointments were now trans- 
ferred to the new levy court. 

At the legislative session of 1790 a new Court of Oyer 
and Terminer was organized for Baltimore city and county. 
New justice courts came into existence in 1804 and 1805. 
The General Court was abolished and chief justices of the 
district courts were constituted a Court of Appeals, then 
much needed. 

The state had eight congressional districts, of which Bal- 
timore city included the fifth and sixth, Baltimore and 
Harford counties being the last. 

The new court house, which had been cried down several 
years before, was decided upon in the session of 1805, and 
Messrs. McElderry, Payson, Jessop, John and Alexander 
McKim, Dixon, Rutter and Goldsmith, commissioners, 
were appointed to attend to its erection. The site selected 
was the public ground on Calvert Street. Four years later 



34 



BALTIMORE. 



the county records were removed to the new court house 
and the courts held session there. That same year the old 
court house was taken down. 

The watchmen, or police, who also had charge of the 
street lighting, were but a very small beginning- for the depart- 
ment which has gradually formed and developed into the 
Baltimore police force of the present. Perhaps in no way 
could a clearer idea be given of the size, work, limitations and 
pay of the police of the city at the beginning of the century 
than by printing in its entirety a bill for expenses approved 
by the Mayor in 1S08. It is as follows: — 

The Mayor and Citv Council of Baltimore, 1808, 

To the Watch ox Fells Point, Dr. 



March 31st. 



March 23d. 



2 Captains, one month, $44.44 

1 Lieutenant, one month 

double duty, 22.22 

6 Watchmen, one month, 120.00 

1 Quarter's watch-house rent, 16.67 
John Ramsey's bill of candles, 2.00 
To making 1 1 lamp posts at 50c. 5.50 
Paid for draying 2 loads of oil, 1.00 
1 cord of wood, 4.C0 

Carting and sawing do. .87J 



$216.70^ 
April 7th. 1808, 

Examined and approved, 

J. Smith. 
Pay the above and charge the same to appropriation for 



watching and lipritine the citv. 



The Registrar. 



Thomas Smith, Mar. 

7th April, 1S0S. 



INTRODUCTORY. 35 

The city property subject to tax was valued in 1798 
at ^699,519, gs. and 6d., and assessed under a general 
assessment law on that valuation. There were ten com- 
missioners appointed at the time for making assessments, 
five for the city and five for the county. Within the next 
decade the business of Baltimore had materially increased. 
The exports from Maryland, nearly all of which were from 
the city, from October 1805 to 1806 reached the total sum 
of $14,580,705, of which $3,661,131 were in domestic prod- 
uce, ddie receipts into the Treasury of the United States 
from this city in 1806 were $1,224,897. 

A period of the deepest interest to the people of Balti- 
more was the three years of blockade, hardship and battle, 
generally known in history as the War of 18 12. When 
the United States declared war against Great Britain, 
that nation was too deeply engaged in the more important 
adversary to pay any attention to the challenge. It was 
several months after the declaration of war on our side 
that England declared the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays 
to be under rigid blockade. This was in the latter part of 
1812. 

The British naval forces did not appear in numbers 
until the beginning of the succeeding year, when a fleet 
under command of Admiral Cockburn took possession of 
Hampton Roads. 

We may notice one curious point in connection with this 
war and that was that the States of the Union seemed to be 
regarded almost as separate powers by Great Britain, or at 
least as individually responsible members of a somewhat loose 
confederation, for we find that the first expression of hostility 
on her part, was shown towards Maryland and some few 
states which had most strenuously opposed her tyranny on 
the hieh seas while Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New 



36 BALTIMORE. 

Hampshire were exempt from blockade. Of course this 
condition may have been caused by the insufficiency of 
England's naval force to maintain a blockade which should 
take in all the American coast, yet this reason seems hardly 
sufficient to account for the pertinacity with which this part 
of the coast was besieged. 

Cockburn harassed the shores of the Chesapeake on both 
sides and intercepted vessels, of which the growing com- 
merce of our city provided so many. Some Baltimore 
vessels fell an easy prey to the enemy, but the majority 
yielded only after hard fighting. Sometimes the programme 
was changed and privateersmen which set out from Baltimore 
in quest of prizes returned successful to the city. The 
nearer approach of the English fleet was constantly feared 
and urgent appeals were made to the Federal government 
for aid, both in money and in men. These requests, just 
and natural as they were, were almost entirely disregarded. 
Some of the Philadelphia papers of the clay allowed their 
jealousy to express itself in the hardly concealed hope that 
Baltimore would be destroyed. The Secretary of War noti- 
fied her that she was to expect little or no protection from 
the Federal government, so that her dependence was almost 
entirely upon the fortitude of her citizens and the wis- 
dom and bravery of her militia leaders. Yet in that 
same year Baltimore subscribed three million dollars of 
the sixteen million dollar loan asked for by the general 
government. 

Although there were many threats and the blockade was 
strenuous, yet more active hostility did not occur during 
the year 1813. Not content with the capture of merchant- 
men, and, indeed, vessels of all classes, the enemy landed on 
Sharps, Pools, Tilghmans and Poplar Islands, where they 
plundered houses and committed all sorts of depredations. 



INTRODUCTORY. 37 

Maryland was doing her best for self-protection, but her 
best was not sufficient to keep the foe from landing at 
Frenchtown and burning and sacking Havre de Grace. 
Admiral Warren re-enforced Cockburn and Beresford. The 
British force on Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 1813 
consisted of eight ships of the line, twelve frigates and a 
number of smaller vessels. Among the captures made at 
this time was that of the revenue-cutter " Surveyor " of Balti- 
more, under command of Captain Samuel Travis. She was 
taken by the British frigate " Narcissus," but the heroic 
manner in which her people, led by their brave captain, 
disputed the enemy's progress inch by inch fur hours, until 
further resistance was utterly impossible, roused the admira- 
tion of the British, from the commander of the frigate to 
the meanest powder-monkey. Captain Travis received his 
sword back from the Englishman with a note expressive of 
the latter's admiration for the noble courage he had shown 
in the fight and earnest hope that both he and his crew 
would soon be admitted to parole. 

Early in the next year were fought the battles of Bladens- 
burg, Caulksfield and Chippewa. Following the capture of 
Washington and the retreat of the American army, Balti- 
more seemed to be chosen as the next point of attack. 1 Ialf 
a million dollars had been expended already in the defences 
of the city and to these were now added for further safety 
several lines of breastworks constructed at different points, 
and batteries on elevated sites. A four-gun battery was 
erected on Lazaretto Point and a number of vessels were 
sunk across the harbor between this point and Fort Mc- 
Henry. Up to this time it is hardly possible to enumerate 
the vessels which fell a prey to the British. In that year 
Fort McHenry was bombarded and many a Baltimorean 
fell at North Point. The monument which stands in the 



38 BALTIMORE. 

public square opposite the present Post Office tells in brief 
the story. Its legend reads thus : — 

September XII. A. D. MDCCCXV. 
In the XL. Year of Independence. 

James Madison being President of the United States. 
To the Brave Defenders of the City who fell in the Battle of 

North Point, on the xii. September, 1814. 
And at the Bombardment of Fort McHenry on the xiii of the 

same month. 

Edward Johnson, Mayor of the Citv, 

Major-General Samuel Smiih, Brigadier-General John Snicker and 

Lieutenant-Colonel G. Armistead, United States Artillery, laid the Comer 

Stone of this Monument of public gratitude and the deliverance of the city. 

A city is honorable or the reverse, as its citizens are 
worthy or unworthy men. Without question the city of 
Baltimore at the beginning of this century was rich in such 
men as those whose names appear in the records of her 
courts, councils and libraries. The very names of her 
streets tell of her proud heritage of noble men. There are 
Baltimore and Calvert to perpetuate the names of the 
leaders of the olden time, but they do not recall richer 
associations than do Howard, Johnson, Jenkins, Biddle, 
Harper, and a host of others. 

Baltimore lived in the lives of such men. She might not 
boast of a theatre, or have a public place of amusement 
within her boundaries, and her streets might be lighted with 
candles and her total expense for guarding and illuminating 
amount to less than some of her citizens now pay for a 
head clerk, but her soldiers were high in rank, her states- 
men were in the nation's Senate and her jurors on the way 
to the Supreme Court bench. 

There was John Eager Howard, who came loyally to the 
front when the war for independence broke out. He was 



INTRODUCTORY. 39 

offered the rank of colonel, but refused the honor, his mod- 
esty holding- him back, and contented himself with the hum- 
bler rank of captain. In that capacity he served at the 
battle of White Plains, in Westchester Count)', New York. 
The short term of enlistment soon brought his company 
home again, and he with them was mustered out of service, 
but immediately rejoined the army, this time receiving a 
major's commission. No work was more important in that 
day of small means and great difficulties than that of recruit- 
ing, and to this Major Howard set himself, working with 
great zeal and succeeding in raising a bod}' of efficient men. 
His next active service was at the battle of Germantown, 
Pa., where occurred one of those romantic incidents which 
in fiction we would call improbable. 

There was on the battle field a country house which the 
British had occupied, garrisoned and in a measure fortified. 
From it they made matters very warm for the Colonial 
soldiers. After the war Colonel Howard was captured by 
one of the occupants of that very house, but it was a lady, 
Miss Chew, the daughter of the owner of the house, who 
caused the soldier to capitulate. She kept him a prisoner 
for life. At Camden, Cowpens, Guilford Court House 
and Eutaw, Colonel Howard also saw service and earned 
the right to be called a veteran. For his gallantry on the 
field of battle Congress bestowed on him a medal, which was 
not among the least valued of the possessions he acquired, 

I have mentioned Howard Street as being named after 
Colonel Howard. In memory of his gallant service at 
Eutaw the street bearing that name was called. 

His interest in public affairs was not lessened by his 
military honors, and in 1 7S8 the people of Maryland paid 
him the highest honor in their power, by choosing him 
Governor of the state. 



40 BALTIMORE. 

When the war with France was threatening in 1798, 
Colonel Howard was appointed brigadier-general, but 
happily that cloud blew over and the danger was averted. 
Before this time the ex-Governor had been made major- 
general of militia. 

Washington, recognizing the rare virtue and ability of 
this man, invited him to a seat in his cabinet, an honor 
which the veteran, with great modesty, declined — or perhaps 
a variety of motives led him to refrain from taking further 
part in public life. He retired to his country estate in 1804 
and devoted himself to the congenial life of a country 
gentleman, content to see his family grown up about him 
and to let other men take their share of the hurly-burly of 
life of which he had seen so much. 

But when danger menaced again the old warrior came 
out of his retirement. Baltimore was threatened. 18 14 
had come. The British were once more reaching out a 
hand for their old possessions. All the young men went to 
the front and the city was almost defenceless. Then a 
troop of old men, veterans, graybeards, fathers and grand- 
fathers in Baltimore, banded together as a home guard and 
th<-)" chose as their captain Colonel Howard, who only 
chafed that he could not serve more actively. When the 
city of Washington was taken and some of the more timid 
citizens of Baltimore talked of capitulation the spirit of 'j6 
answered in those memorable words, " I have as much prop- 
erty at stake as any one, but rather than disgrace my 
country I would see my sons weltering in their blood and 
my property in ashes." 

I have dwelt a little at length on the life of Colonel 
Howard because he was a central figure of the time of 
which this chapter treats and because the record of a life like 
his is always wholesome reading for those who come after. 



INTRODUCTORY. 41 

Another man of mark was Robert Goodloe Harper, who 
was born in 1765. He also was a Revolutionary soldier, 
serving under General Greene in the Southern campaign. 
He was the son of poor parents and won his way by 
hard work. His preparation for college was a cour- 
ageous fight and when he finally graduated at Prince- 
ton College he had the education he craved but hardly a 
dollar in the world with which to make a start. Wandering 
to Charleston, S. C, he was so fortunate as to fall in with 
an innkeeper who was the father of one of his Princeton 
classmates. This man became his friend and put him in 
the way of following the legal profession, as he desired. 
He was admitted to the bar of South Carolina, in which 
state he practiced law and wrote considerable on political 
subjects. He was sent to the South Carolina Legislature 
and in 1794 to the United States Congress from that state. 
He was a Federalist, a supporter of Washington and 
Adams. He married a Baltimore lady, Catherine, the 
daughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, whom he met at 
the Capital. This marriage was the cause of his adopting 
Baltimore as his home. Here he practiced law very success- 
fully, was employed in many important cases and won 
influence with the best people of the place. 

In the war of 1812 he became a major-general and on 
his retirement from the army was chosen to represent our 
people in the United States Senate. General Harper died 
in 1825. 

Quite another class of people also claim our attention. 
The city at that period was not without its criminals — was 
there ever a city without them ? — but the promptness with 
which execution followed conviction and sentence, shows 
that neither the right of appeal nor the "exercise of execu- 
tive clemencv" were allowed often to interfere with the 



42 BALTIMORE. 

course of justice. There were the four men implicated in 
the killing of a jail warden who had tried to prevent their 
escape from confinement. It was just one month and four 
days after the crime was committed that these four criminals, 
of whom three were colored and one white, stood together 
on the scaffold and looked their last on the sunlight. 

One of the most singular letters ever written by a man 
under sentence of death was found in the cell of a French- 
man named Jean Lamarcle, who had killed a farmer. He 
escaped the public penalty for his crime by hanging himself 
by a rope made of his shirt. The writing he left ran as 
follows : " A Chinese condemned to death by a special 
court, it is to his honor to be his own executioner. That 
which is virtue in one nation is vice in another. The sun 
enlightens all. What were you before you existed ? 
Nothing. What will you be when you cease to exist ? 
Nothing. So ends Jean Lamarde, aged 47 years, 9 months, 
and 9 days. Died victim." 

Mail robberies occurred occasionally, and, indeed, at one 
time seemed to be a favorite occupation for criminals. 
Two notorious fellows, named Hare and Alexander, were 
arrested for robbing the eastern mail a very few miles out 
of the city. As it transpired at the trial that they had put 
the mail-carrier "in jeopardy of his life " they were both 
hanged in the jail-yard. Formerly the cart had been used 
at executions, but at this execution the drop and trap were 
used for the first time in the history of Baltimore. 

It may be thought that this would deter mail robbers 
from further attempts against the letters intrusted to Uncle 
Sam's keeping, but the records show that Hutton and Hull 
were arrested, convicted and hanged for the same offence 
only a short time afterwards, during the same year. The 
robbers were caugdit red handed, one of them still havingr 



INTRODUCTORY. 43 

the money which he had taken concealed about his clothes, 
and following these there was a fifth man who suffered for 
the same crime. 

The case of John F. Ferguson and Israel Denny is 
unique in the annals of Baltimore criminals, from the nature 
of the crime for which they suffered — piracy. Ferguson 
stated on the gallows that he had intended to make a full 
confession but that the " Almighty had changed his mind." 

Piracy was no doubt the legitimate effect of the privateer- 
ing which the several wars and interference with our infant 
commerce had made fashionable. A privateer was, after 
all, an authorized pirate, whose depredations were limited 
to certain nationalities. But, however he might be accounted 
for, the pirate was not to be endured. Baltimore had too 
much property at stake. Her people were becoming con- 
servative and prosperous in a financial way. 

The Union Bank of Maryland received its charter in 
1S04. William Winchester was its President. Its [dace of 
business was on North Charles Street and its proposed capi- 
tal $3,000,000, which was afterwards reduced twenty-five 
per cent, by an Act of the Legislature. 

The Mechanic's Bank, started in 1,812 with a proposed 
capital of $1,000,000, was similarly treated, the reduction in 
the latter case being fort)' per cent. 

Among Baltimore institutions of the past one which has 
very recently been removed must not be forgotten. 
Associated with many brilliant public men and notable 
events was Barnum's City Motel, built and owned by 
David Barnum, who died in 1 844. The original hotel was 
torn down in 1825 togive place to the onelately demolished. 
It stood opposite the Reverdy Johnson mansion. In 1825 
a great ball was given there in honor of General Jackson. 
That was in March. The Democratic hero received his 



44 BALTIMORE. 

guests at the hotel from twelve o'clock till two. At the 
request of his friends he presented a stand of colors to the 
Forsyth Rifles, one of the crack military organizations of 
the day. Henry Clay visited Baltimore in 1828. He came 
in the steamboat " United States" and was met by a great 
crowd of citizens on the steamboat " Patuxent." It is said 
that his reception and the subsequent ovation was a com- 
plete surprise to Mr. Clay. He was escorted by a multitude 
of people to Barnum's hotel, where he met many prominent 
people, declining, however, the banquet that was tendered 
him, dining with a number of officials in a more private 
way. 

On the Centennial anniversary of Washington's birth in 
[823, the mayor and corporation of Baltimore entertained 
the visiting guests and delegates at Barnum's. Hardly a 
prominent man, politician or soldier, of that day but tarried 
at this famous hostelry. 

Probably one of the most picturesque, significant and even 
sad visits ever paid there was that of John Randolph of 
Roanoke, in 1833. He was on his way from Washington, 
going home to Philadelphia to die. His coach was an old- 
fashioned English chariot, drawn by four horses, with pos- 
tilions in livery, footmen, etc. On the box was Mr. Ran- 
dolph's body-servant, Juba, to whom alone he would trust 
himself in his physical weakness. 

There was quite a furor in the city when this great 
equipage appeared. The crowd gathered rapidly till the 
way was blocked by hundreds of curious people. Within 
tha\ stately coach was the feeble form of the great states- 
man, and the lips that had charmed a nation with their elo- 
quence were no doubt framing words of anything but a 
pleasant character for the thoughtless throng that pre- 
vented his arrival at a place of rest. 





Washington Monument. 



INTRODUCTORY. 45 

At last the coach reaches the Fayette Street door of the 
hotel, stops, Juba descends from his perch and tenderly lifts 
his master and carries him out of the sight of the crowd 
into the shelter of Barnum's. 

In 1834, Webster, Preston, Binney and McDuffie visited 
Baltimore, were escorted to Barnum's hotel by 5,000 citi- 
zens and afterwards addressed the people from the hotel. 
In September, 1871, one of the later triumphs of the old 
house occurred when John H. B. Latrobe, Grand Master of 
the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Order in Maryland, with 
Grand Commander Warren and other noted Masons, ban- 
cpietted there at the time of the great Knights Templars' 
Convention. 

I could not begin to enumerate the events or the men 
that the name of Barnum's hotel suggests to the Baltimo- 
rean. Like many another landmark it has gone to make 
room for the requirements of business, and the hand of 
progress and change are everywhere apparent in our city. 



CHAPTER II. 




RECOLLECTIONS OF BOYHOOD. 

Y father was born in Switzerland and passed 
his boyhood under the shadow of the Alps. 
CV His disposition, character and habits were 
such as might be expected from one of that 
race. Like most Swiss boys he learned a 
trade, becoming an expert shoemaker, and 
in the hope of advancing his fortunes he left his mountain 
home and travelled through Germany, after a fashion 
much followed at that day by members of different guilds 
or crafts, moving from city to city. But Berlin, Stutt- 
gart and Leipsic with their governmental restrictions did 
not suit a youth who had known freer institutions and 
so he resolved to follow his brother, my oldest uncle, to 
America, where he was convinced that he could better his 
fortunes. 

He sailed from Bremen for Baltimore. The voyage was 
a long and tedious one, occupying thirteen weeks. It is al- 
most needless to say that he came by a sailing vessel. The 
weather was stormy, provisions ran short, the sailors had 
more than they could do to manage the ship and the male 



RECOLLECTIONS OF BOYHOOD. 4; 

passengers were obliged to assist them. It was a glad day 
for all on board when they arrived in Baltimore. Gotlieb 
Frey was a young man seeking a fortune among strangers 
whose language and customs he was unacquainted with, but 
before long he had found employment and made friends and 
had won his own place in a city which was to be his home. 
As soon as his efforts had been sufficiently successful to 
warrant such a step he married Mary Ann I lines, a girl 
of Scotch parentage. I have every reason to be thankful 
for the double heritage of Scotch and Swiss parentage, 
for I know of no other which will fit a man better for 
fighting the hard battle in life. I think that my mother 
was a woman who showed more than ordinary tact and 
energy, for quite early in my parents' married life, while 
their children were still young, my father received a serious 
injury from which he never fully recovered, and the duty 
of providing for the household devolved mainly upon 
his wife. It was then that her energy showed itself. She 
started a small dairy, which was afterwards increased and 
became quite profitable, continuing so until her death, by 
which time quite a considerable fortune had been accumu- 
lated as the result of her enterprise and industry. 

In my boyhood days I was first put as a scholar in the 
charge of Miss Mary Baker, whose school for small chil- 
dren was well known in the neighborhood of Conway 
Street. That was before the day of public primary schools, 
and as I soon outgrew the little classes at Miss Baker's, I 
was removed to Grammar School No. 4, where I was 
placed with other very small boys in the female depart- 
ment. My teacher was Mrs. King, the mother of Judge 
John C. King. When I reached the age of seven I was 
considered large enough to go in the boys' department and 
there some of the rougher experiences in life began for me. 



48 BALTIMORE. 

That was a day when it was not considered wise or politic 
in the school to spoil the child by sparing the rod, and the 
personal conflicts which arose between master and scholars 
were sometimes very exciting. There were a large number 
of scholars, but only two teachers, Mr. Faulkner, the 
principal, and his assistant, Mr. Coulter. Some of the 
larger boys refused to be punished and any attempt at 
correction by the teachers was apt to be the signal for a 
perfect volley of books, slates, inkstands and whatever 
missiles came handy. I sometimes wonder at the teacher 
who would have remained in a position which entailed so 
many wounds, cuts and bruises. He must have been a 
pluck) - man. I had frequently to go and get cobwebs for 
him from Mrs. Faulkner to patch up his cuts after some of 
these encounters. 

All the fighting was not done in the school-room. The 
ships' carpenters' apprentices and others who attended 
there in winter were perhaps responsible for inciting ani- 
mosities outside as well as rebellion inside of the build- 
ing. Like all schools, this one had its bully and there 
came a day when little Jacob Frey found it necessary to 
tight the bully. Truth compels me to add that he did not 
like the job. This boy, whose name was Fahey, was anxious 
to have me adjourn with him to a stone yard near by where 
we could fight it out. This I declined to do and finally 
had the delisfht of thrashing- him soundly in the school 
yard. Not long after this, when I went to the High 
School at Holliday and Fayette Streets, I found it neces- 
sary to battle for a foothold, which I promptly did and 
established my standing there. There was another school 
( Public Grammar No. 9) in the same building with the 
High School, of which Patrick Harshaw was principal. 
The masters were usually very careful to dismiss their 



RECOLLECTIONS OF BOYHOOD. 



49 



respective charges at different hours so that there should 
be no collision, but it happened occasionally that we got 
out together anil then a general fracas was sure to be the 
result. I recollect once standing at the bottom of the 
steps as Mr. Harshaw's boys came down, and throwing 
taffy paper into their faces. One of the boys who was 
bigger than I was did not like this proceeding and we 
went around in an alley to have it out, but as ill fortune 
would have it, a policeman happened along just then and 
took us both in. This was my first acquaintance with the 
police department and I could not but feel that I had begun 
at the wrong end. 

From my mother I learned very early in life to be busy, 
and the habit of work which I then formed has stuck to 
me ever since. A live boy in a live city soon begins to 
use his senses to find out all that is going on around him, 
and there was plenty of life and excitement in Baltimore 
when I was a boy. 

The beginning of my recollections nearly corresponds 
with the commencement of the " roaring forties," which was 
certainly not the least active period in Baltimore history. 
Like most youngsters, I suppose I followed the crowd 
whenever there was any commotion, ami that is probably 
why one of my first vivid recollections is that of the execu- 
tion of Adam Horn, in 1S44. lb- was an assassin whose 
crime had roused great indignation in the city ami there 
could not have been less than thirty thousand people pres- 
ent to witness his taking off. Among them I stood and 
the scene and incidents made such a deep impression upon 
me that if the site had not undergone very radical changes 
since that day, I could go without hesitation to the very 
spot from which I saw the tragedy enacted. You may be 
sure that there was very little study that afternoon for one 



5 o BALTIMORE. 

small school-boy who had used his noon intermission for 
such a purpose. Of course I did not know all the facts of 
the case then, and those I have gathered since are not 
necessary to the purpose of this book, but I had learned a 
much more serious lesson than any that my teachers in 
the public school could have taught me of the shadow 
side of human life. 

Another occurrence which about this time horrified every 
one and brought mourning into man) - a Baltimore home 
was the explosion of the new steamboat " Medora." 
Steamboats at that day were so much less common than 
now that the building of the "Medora" by the Steam 
Packet Company attracted a great deal of attention. She 
was intended to run on regular trips between Baltimore 
and Norfolk, Va. The best skill of the day had been 
employed to make this vessel as perfect as possible. No 
expense had been spared and she was pronounced by 
those who had inspected her to be a marvel of workman- 
ship. 

When the day for the "Meclora's" launch and trial trip 
arrived,' a crowd so large gathered upon the wharf and 
pushed their way over the gang-plank that it was thought 
dangerous to leave her in that position, as fear was enter- 
tained that she might be capsized. Pulling out, therefore, 
a short distance into the stream, her passengers were 
brought aboard in a small boat. The steamboat at this 
time did not lie above thirty feet from the wharf. 

At half past three o'clock, when there were eighty-two 
people on board, the engines were started, but before three 
revolutions of the wheels had been made there was a ter- 
rific explosion. In a minute of time a mass of debris marked 
the spot where that beautiful boat had been. The air for 
an instant was filled with splinters of wood, pieces of iron 



RECOLLECTIONS OF BOYHOOD. 51 

and fragments of every description, while the force of the 
explosion was sensibly felt on the shore. The crowd was 
rigid with horror. The cheer that had burst from a thou- 
sand throats as the boat moved off from her mooring was 
suddenly checked and there was absolute silence, broken 
after a moment by the screams and groans of the injured 
and the appeals for help from the few survivors. 

Then the silence of the throng on the wharf gave place 
to the wildest excitement, and those who could, manned 
boats to aid the unfortunates who were struggling in the 
water, while many of the people ran up and down, wring- 
ing their hands, perfectly demoralized. 

There were eighty-two people on the " Medora " at the 
time of the explosion. Of these, twenty-seven were killed 
outright, fort)- were wounded more or less badly and only 
fifteen of the total number escaped without injury. There 
were few people in the city to whom loss had not come in 
the person of some relative, friend or acquaintance through 
this accident. 

The Baltimore of my boyhood was far from being the 
large city it is to-day. < )n the smith it bordered the harbor 
and basin, but to the west of the basin it did not extend 
further south than Cross Street, except for a few scattering 
houses toward the present Riverside Park. On the west 
Poppleton Street was the limit and beyond Franklin on the 
north was open country. A Baltimorean, speaking of the 
Washington monument several years before, mentions the 
" touching solitude " in which it stood, and in my early 
days it was not much better. The line to the eastward of 
Jones' Falls was a little further off, reaching on Monument 
Street as far as Gay Street. It then zigzagged down Gay 
to the market and across through Orleans to Centre as far 
as Baltimore Street. It followed Baltimore Street eastward 



52 BALTIMORE. 

to Broadway and from there along the water-front to the 
southward of the present Patterson Park. The Baltimore 
& Ohio workshops, the Washington Monument, the Johns 
Hopkins Hospital and Federal Hill Park all lie outside of 
what were then the inhabited limits of Baltimore. I 
attended the public school at the corner of Lee and Han- 
over Streets. At that time the old reservoir and water- 
works were at Calvert and Monument Streets, a couple of 
squares east of the Washington Monument. 

The Whig Convention of 1840 is just beyond my recol- 
lection, or if remembered at all is jumbled in with a good 
many other memories. I have no doubt that a child of five 
years old is fully capable of noticing with keen interest 
such a pageant as the procession of State delegates at that 
time, with their banners and music, carriages drawn by 
snow-white horses, log cabins, hard cider and all the rest of 
it. But the memory of it is not at all sure to remain dis- 
tinct after the lapse of fifty years. 

Perhaps that and the Democratic Convention of the same 
year, at which Martin Van Buren was nominated, and the 
great gala day that the Odd Fellows made when they dedi- 
1 ated their new hall in September, '43, were all eclipsed by 
the '44 convention and the subsequent Whig jubilee in the 
same year, which I do recall very clearly. 

It was at the old Universalist Church on Calvert Street 
that Henry Clay received the Whig nomination for the 
presidency, which was given by acclamation, Theodore 
Frelinghuysen being nominated for the second place on 
the ticket. That was an occasion of great display and 
furor on the part of the Whig party. It would hardly be 
possible to conceive a scene more full of life and color and 
animation than that which attended the subsequent jubilee. 
The Whigf Young Men's Convention of ratification brought 




c 









RECOLLECTIONS OF BOYHOOD. 53 

people of all classes and conditions from every part of the 
country, north, east, south and west. Ever)' point of view, 
ever)' balcony, window, doorway, every lamp-post and awn- 
ing and railing was crowded with the thousands of specta- 
tors. The ship " Tariff," full-rigged, bright with flags, 
manned, armed and equipped, was one of the central 
objects of display in the parade. Delegates from different 
states, military bodies, bands of music and all the usual 
accompaniments of a political procession were there. 1 here 
were speeches made by Daniel Webster, Reverdy Johnson, 
Thomas Ewing and others. Baltimore Street was hand- 
somely decorated and at Calvert Street there was a tine 
triumphal arch erected, gay with bunting and (lowers. 
Such things are calculated to catch the eye of a boy of nine 
years of age, as they also appeal to the senses of children of 
a larger growth. 

Following this on the 27th of Ma}', the Tyler National 
Convention met and nominated John Tyler, and two days 
later James K. Polk and George M. Dallas were put up 
by the Democratic National Convention. 

A singular and interesting occurrence in connection with 
the Democratic nomination should not be forgotten. For 
some time Prof. Samuel F. B. Morse had been struggling 
to introduce the electric telegraph into general use, and 
finally, on the 20th of May, 1S44, the first wire from Wash- 
ington to Baltimore was finished, ready for operation. No 
doubt that was a proud day for the inventor. It was also 
an occasion long to be remembered by the Democrats that 
the first time in history that the names of candidates for 
election had been telegraphed from the place of convention 
was when the names of [ames K. Polk and George M. 
Dallas flashed over the wire from Baltimore to Washington 
in May of 1S44. 



54 BALTIMORE. 

The apparatus of Morse was primitive in some respects 
as compared with that in use to-day. The wires were 
cumbrous and were protected from the weather by a cover- 
ing of rope-yarn and tar, but they did good service for 
some months. The newspapers were not slow to take 
advantage of the new facilities which the telegraph sup- 
plied and news was regularly reported from the Capital to 
the Baltimore press, but in February of the next year Pro- 
fessor Morse telegraphed his apologies to the papers for 
the statement he was reluctantly obliged to make, that the 
appropriation had run out and he would therefore have to 
shut down. There was no money for anybody, he said, 
and he coirld no longer report for them. 

Among' the occurrences which made a deep impression 
upon all the community, without regard to party preferences 
or political views, was the death of Ex-President Andrew 
Jackson. A few years previous to this the memory of 
William Henry Harrison had been honored by commemora- 
tive services at Baltimore. The same forgetfulness of old 
resentments marked the ceremonies in honor of Jackson, 
and indeed his funeral was one of the most solemn occa- 
sions Baltimore has ever known. A great procession 
formed and made its way to Mount Vernon Place, where 
eulogies were delivered and a dirge, especially composed 
for the occasion, was sung by the Baltimore Musical Associ- 
ation. 

Our city has always shown a keen interest in the progress 
of liberty in whatever part of the world it has manifested 
itself. Having a liberal portion of the spirit of indepen- 
dence themselves her citizens have been foremost among 
those who have extended the right hand of fellowship to the 
laborers or sufferers in the cause of freedom elsewhere. 
This was shown by the enthusiasm evinced in the mass 



RED iLLEC riONS OF B( >\ H( K >D. 55 

meeting which assembled in Monument Square in May, 
1848, to express sympathy with the Revolution in France. 
Some of the foremost orators of our State and Nation 
were heard. There were Messrs. Reverdy Johnson, 
Charles F. Mayer, Charles Leloup, George Fein, William 
P. Preston and Thomas Swann. 

So it was when the Hungarian patriot, Louis Kossuth, 
arrived in Baltimore with Madame Kossuth and Madame 
Pulaski and suite. There was a silent, expectant mass of 
people waiting to receive the representative of freedom 
when he stepped from the cars, and when the people 
caught sight of him the silence was broken by cheer after 
cheer. The great man was dressed in black, wore knee 
breeches and a dress sword, and presented a very trim 
figure as he bowed his acknowledgments. 

Mayor Jerome received him and made him the guest of 
the city. He was invited to enter a barouche which was 
waiting, and, attended still by the crowd, was driven to the 
Futaw House. Afterwards he made a speech in very good 
English from the balcony of the hotel. Later still he 
reviewed the military with the critical attention of a soldier 
who was familiar with the armies of Europe. He was 
addressed with speeches of welcome by the mayor and 
other prominent men, and in every way wore as little the 
appearance of an exile as is possible for a man to do. 

At that day it was easier to rouse enthusiasm on any 
political matter, especially in one that involved parade and 
show, than it is to-day. That is not peculiar to Baltimore. 
All over the country the great serious fact of the war 
seemed to surfeit the whole nation and took away the 
appetite for political theatricals to a large extent. 

In March of 1845 the Democrats of Baltimore made a 
grand display of a flag which they designed to present to 



56 BALTIMORE. 

the Democrats of New York City. It was certainly a 
magnificent affair: the centre was of white satin, fifty-four 
square feet in size and decorated with the portraits of 
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other eminent 
men, painted by a Baltimore artist. The border of the 
banner was made of blue velvet, embroidered by the fair 
hands of Baltimore ladies. Even the gold fringe that it 
was finished with, the tassels and the silken ropes that 
depended from it, were all of home manufacture. The 
total cost of this gift was said to have been over a thousand 
dollars. For several days it was on exhibition at the 
Assembly Rooms, and a great number of people went to 
admire it. 

At this period ship-building was brisk in the city and 
increasingly so in '45. At one time in the spring of that 
year there were twenty-one vessels in process of construc- 
tion, several of them quite lanje, their ao-Qreeate tonnage 
amounting to over five thousand tons. There were nine 
shipyards, all of which were busy. On the south side of 
the Basin was Mr. Skinner's yard ; Flannigan & Trimble's 
was at the foot of McElderry's Dock. Mr. Butler had his 
yard near the lower end of the Falls. Then were Messrs. 
Duncan, Seymour & Hunt, John A. Robb & Company, 
the Gardners, Cooper & Abrahams, Smith & Goodwin 
and Richardson, who all had yards of greater or less size. 
The vessels built were not all for Baltimore or its vicinity. 
Some were intended for the coasting trade. One was a 
whaler built for New England parties. Two were passen- 
ger steamboats and one a lumber boat, and so on. With- 
out question the activity in this direction was much greater 
in proportion to the population than it is to-day. In this 
particular, half a century has not seen the advance that we 
might expect. We were not troubled then with the restric- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF BOYHOOD. 57 

tive laws which hamper us now and in spite of which we 
have thriven and grown. Business was healthy, there was 
plenty to do for the workingman, and house rent was very 
low. 

In point of religious observances and deference to public 
opinion in matters of morality, one might almost have 
supposed himself in Connecticut. There was an unwritten 
law for instance which made church people unwilling to be 
seen at the theatre. In this connection I may say that there 
was a certain very convenient museum in town which 
occupied a floor of the, same building with a theatre. It 
was quite wonderful how the very good people patron- 
ized that museum. They would proceed devoutly to be 
instructed on the museum floor and no doubt would have 
been quite shocked had any one intimated that they were 
ever induced to linger by the attractions of the theatre. 

On one occasion the press exulted in the capture by the 
police of a lad who had been caught pitching pennies on 
the Sabbath. He was caught red-handed, as one may say, 
with the copper evidence of his total depravity in his hand. 
There was no use expostulating. This sort of thing must 
be stopped without further delay, so the offender was shut 
up over night to meditate on the enormity of his offence, 
and in the morning was brought trembling before the justice 
of the peace, who lined him a dollar and costs. Not hav- 
ing a dollar, (probably if he had had one he would have 
pitched that too,) the boy was committed to jail, as there 
was no House of Refuge or Reformatory for boys. For 
the offence of tossing a cent on the Sabbath the young 
culprit was introduced to criminals, and yet the same issue 
of the paper which published an account of this arrest, on 
the succeeding day gave up its columns to the unblushing 
advertisement of a lottery gotten up to tempt the unwary. 



5S BALTIMORE. 

Really, newspaper morality has never failed to present an 
amusing side. 

But neither the morality of the press nor the strength of 
public opinion was sufficient to stop the riotous proceedings 
of the firemen and their satellites, whose acts called for 
daily comment. 

A Baltimore paper reported ten fires, most of them (in 
fact all but two) of incendiary origin, between one Satur- 
day and the following Monday. Almost every issue of the 
daily press had its record of riots or fights. There was a 
law passed for the suppression of rioting and a number of 
arrests were made by the police, but for a long while the 
evil was on the increase. Many of the incendiaries fired 
buildings for purposes of plunder, but others no doubt only 
wanted to provoke a fracas. What could be more inspirit- 
ing to the unthinking young rough than a combination of 
those two most exciting spectacles, a fire and a fight! After 
a while the fire-bugs worked with hardly a pretence at con- 
cealment. 

One evening a boy was found by a watchman on the 
Point and questioned as to what he was doing there. He 
said he was waiting to see the fun. "What fun?" Why, 
so and so's warehouse was to be burned and he was not 
going to miss it. The fact that the watchman had dis- 
covered hardly an hour before, preparations to set fire to 
that very warehouse, material of an inflammable nature 
being piled against it and everything in readiness for a con- 
flagration, made him very anxious to catch the boy, who 
however eluded pursuit with some companions. Later he 
fell into the hands of the police, and was identified by the 
watchman, but persuaded the justice before whom he was 
brought, that he knew nothing about the preparations and 
was only joking with the watchman. 



c 



RECOLLECTIONS OF BOYHOOD. 5) 

Young scoundrels, to use a favorite expression of the 
ay, used to set fire to leaves, barrels, or anything else 
to make a blaze and call the Volunteers out, and then set 
upon them with sticks and stones. Sometimes the police 
interfered; one gallant officer had his collarbone broken 
with a brick and was laid up for awhile ; but usually they 
managed to have things pretty much their own way. 

Justice Brewer fined a young man $50 for getting up a 
row and trying to throw the reel belonging to a rival company 
into the water of Hartford Run, but man)' a fine equipment 
did go overboard there, or in Jones' Falls or at the wharves. 
When the rival companies would not be accommodating 
and fight each other, a mob of roughs used to gather and 
shout out some nonsensical war-cry and then rush in for a 
scrimmage. Every engine-company had its corps of 

hangers-on and to these latter was probably due most of 
the riotous behavior attributed to their patrons. Out of 
these disturbances grew more serious difficulties, of which 
I shall speak in another place. 

Baltimore at that day was an exciting city to live in. 
Although so much smaller in area and population than it is 
to-day, yet there was a greater amount of daily excitement 
arising from the almost unchecked lawlessness of a certain 
class of the populace. My earliest recollections of city life 
are therefore of the liveliest description. 

Although Baltimore had grown very much during those 
first seventeen years of my life, yet it was far from being 
the city it is to-day, either in size or in its reputation for 
orderliness. As already suggested, safety was not always as 
fully insured as now. 

At the age of seventeen years I left school and began 
work, and I have worked ever since. I had graduated to 
the high school in the winter of 1848-49 and three years 



6o BALTIMORE. 

later I entered my apprenticeship to Joseph Steward in 
the stove business, on Baltimore between Howard and 
Eutaw Streets. 

I had, as every young man who thinks at all must have, 
a good many ideas about what I should accomplish, but 
probably about the only thing that did not occur to me was 
that I should ever belong to the police force, and much less 
that I should one clay be chosen to command it. 

One of the most surprising escapes of my life, (and I 
have had several that were narrow,) was toward the end 
of my apprenticeship. I was employed in tinning the roof 
of a building in Mount Washington, Baltimore County. It 
was an octagon building,, used as a young ladies' seminary, 
and is still standing. In spreading the tin out. walking 
backwards and rolling it towards me, I miscalculated the 
distance and suddenly, to my horror, stepped off. Noth- 
ing- can be more dreadful than the sensation of backing 
into the empty air, clutching vainly for something that will 
save one and then falling. I fortunately lost consciousness 
before I struck, although I have a perfect recollection of my 
falling at the instant that I made the misstep. The height 
of the roof was fifty-two feet from the ground and I fell all 
but a few feet of the whole distance, but to my good fortune 
there was a pile of flooring boards piled up against the side 
of the house. Upon these I struck, bounding off again and 
landing on a pile of stones a few feet away. Those who 
had seen my fall ran to pick me up and of course believed 
me to be dead, but strange to say, I was able to be about 
my work the next day, very much bruised and sore and 
stiff, but otherwise not much the w-orse for my remarkable 
adventure. I should not advise any one else to try that 
method of diving, however; there are plenty of other amuse- 
ments which offer less risk. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF BOYHOOD. 61 

A decade before the commencement of the war the 
great statesman. Henry Clay, died. There was an extra 
session of our City Council held on the 30th of June, to 
arrange for appropriate obsequies here. 

ddie town meeting was held in accordance with a public 
call made by the mayor and at the Exchange, which was 
draped in black for the occasion, a very large gathering, 
over which Mayor Jerome presided, concurred in resolu- 
tions of respect and grief. An address by Z. Collins Lee, 
Esq. contained these words, which seem to express the 
sentiments of every one present, of whatever party creed— 
" Let, then, the nation which mourns his loss, let men of 
all parties, now pause and contemplate his noble example 
and learn from it the true love of country and mankind. 
Around this great statesman's tomb be the voice of faction 

... 

and disunion hushed and the spirit of partizan rivalry 
extinguished forever." 

Among the resolutions was one inviting all citizens who 
could conveniently do so to attend the funeral at Washing- 
ton in a body, and providing for the appointment by the 
chair of a committee of twenty-four representative citizens 
to visit Washington and testify the respect of the city for 
the illustrious dead. Every preparation was made in 
Baltimore to do honor to the statesman — "The sage of 
Ashland," as he was called. When the hour arrived for 
the car which should bear the funeral cortege to leave the 
capital, three guns were fired in quick succession from 
Federal Hill, ddie procession which was to escort the re- 
mains from the depot was formed in Poppleton and Pratt 
Streets, with the right resting on Baltimore Street. Besides 
the military there were various societies, including the < )<\<\ 
Fellows, Old Defenders, Sons of Temperance, Firemen, 
etc. These formed to the eastward of the military. 



6j BALTIMORE. 

The chief marshal on this occasion was John Pickett, 
his assistants were Colonels Benzinger and Kane, Majors 
Spedden, Barry and Hall, Captain John Marshall and 
other prominent gentlemen. Besides those already enu- 
merated there was a mounted corps under the command of 
Colonel Bouklon, and a number of carriages in which the 
county and city judges, members of congress, visitors 
and the clergy rode. The marshal was distinguished by a 
black scarf and rosette and his assistants by white scarfs 
and black rosettes. 

The train which left Washington at four o'clock on the 
ist with a guard of honor of the Washington Light 
Infantry arrived at the Mont Clair depot about twenty 
minutes after six r. M. Although the rain fell in heavy 
showers before the arrival of the funeral train a dense mass 
of people awaited it. When the coffin was moved from the 
car to the hearse which had been provided, bells and 
minute guns testified to the universal respect and grief, 
while to these were added the solemn effect of the sable 
decorations and emblems of mourning The Fifth Cavalry 
Regiment, mounted bands, Independent Light Dragoons, 
German Taylor Light Dragoons and Mounted Carbineers 
acted as a guard of honor. Next followed the funeral car 
and the pall bearers under the immediate escort of the 
Independent Grays, and after these came the military and 
civic bodies already mentioned. 

Thus the remains of Clay were taken amid the trappings 
of grief and to the mournful music of muffled drums to the 
rotunda of the Exchange and placed upon the cenotaph 
prepared for them. 

The city was literally hung with mourning and all around 
the line of march flags, festoons and drapery of black gave 
a gloomy and sad aspect to the city. Stores were closed 



RECOLLEC ["1< INS OF BOYHi H ID 63 

and work at the shipyards and other places where large 
bodies of men were employed was stopped. 

During- the time that the statesman's body lay in state it 
was visited by thousands of people. One of the papers of 
that date, referring- to the occurrence, says: "The scene of 
yesterday with'the occasion of it will not be erased from 
the memory of any one who witnessed it, but with life itself. 
No event probably has ever elicited a more general, sponta- 
neous manifestation of public feeling. And as far as the 
external homage of our citizens could render honor to the 
remains of the departed statesman, Baltimore has ac- 
quitted herself with fidelity." 

Ihe people of Baltimore were much stirred about this 
time, over the slaying of two policemen, named Rigdon and 
Benton. These two together had arrested two men named 
Houck and Eisenhart for disorderly conduct. The offend- 
ers, while intoxicated, had been trying to force an entrance 
into a private house on Biddle Street, where a social party 
was in progress. The policemen arrived to find the occu- 
pants of the house very much exercised, the women fright- 
ened and the men provoked. The guardians of the peace 
had taken their prisoners but a little way when Henry Gam- 
brill attempted a rescue, and, during the fight which fol- 
lowed, shot Benton, after which he succeeded in escaping 
and took refuge in a house on Eutaw and Ross Streets. 
But he was afterwards captured, stood trial and was sen- 
tenced, the chief witness against him being Officer Rigdon. 

There were loud threats made against Rigdon and these 
became so violent that the captain of his district advised 
him to remain at home for a short time until the excitement 
caused by the affair should blow over. This advice was 
taken, rather against the officer's will, it is said, and he 
went to his house at 488 West Baltimore Street. Captain 



64 BALTIMORE. 

Lineweaver had not underrated the danger to which Riedon 
was exposed, as the event proved. 

While at his home, standing' in front of the mantel in 
their little parlor and talking- with his wife about the affair 
in which he had the misfortune to be implicated, his adopted 
child, whom in the kindness of his heart he had taken from 
the street to care for and educate, was playing upon the 
floor at his feet. To one looking upon that scene, it must 
have appeared a charming though simple spectacle of do- 
mestic peace and tranquillity, unless the eyes of the be- 
holder were blinded by a base passion or hate. Not two 
feet from where Rigdon stood there was a window and out- 
side of this there was a spectator whose, malice and rage 
prevented his seeing in the picture before him anything but 
an opportunity to gratify his revenge. This was Marion 
Cropps, a friend of Gambrill's. In his hand, resting upon 
the window-sill, was a fowling-piece, the barrel of which 
had been cut down to the length of an old-fashioned horse- 
pistol and which was loaded with slugs. An accomplice of 
Cropps, one Peter Corrie, was waiting at the mouth of the 
alley by which Cropps had gained access to the yard. As 
Officer Cook passed this point on his beat the sound of a 
shot surprised him, and at that moment Corrie, brushing 
past him, started on a run up the street, firing at the officer 
as he passed. Cook gave chase, returning the fugitive's 
fire, but without injur}- to him, and followed past Pine as far 
as Penn Street. Several times during the pursuit Corrie 
turned to fire at his pursuer, who at last overtook and cap- 
tured him on the corner of Penn Street. He weakened 
and confessed the crime and the name of his accomplice, 
who was very carefully hidden at Erasmus Levy's tavern 
on Holliday Street. Thousands of people assembled to 
see these men executed, for they both were held guilty and 
paid the extreme penalty of their crime. 



CHAPTER III. 




THE MEXICAN WAR. 

N 1846 all eyes were turned toward Mexico. 
Twelve times since independence had been 
proclaimed the United States had been 
eneaeed in wars or disturbances with her 
foes. Now Mexico was trying her strength 
against ours. General Taylor was in Mex- 
ico and General Taylor was in trouble. 
The call for reinforcements sounded from state to state. 
It reached Maryland and stirred the hearts of the people 
of Baltimore. 

At first there were the usual knots of people at the street 
corners, in the stores and around public places. There was 
the newspaper call, the occasional speech, the appeal to pa- 
triotism. In a little while all these things crystalized in a 
public meeting on Baltimore Street, to raise volunteers for 
the Mexican service. The people Hocked into the hall, 
filled it, overflowed it. When the hour was announced an 
organization was effected by the leaders and Captain B. 
F. Mauldin was called to the chair. 

By this time the throng had grown so that the lobby, 



66 BALTIMORE. 

steps and street in front of the hall were full of people. 

1 hen a motion was made to adjourn to Monument Square. 
The cry "To the Square! To Monument Square !" was 
passed down to the street and taken up by the crowd there 
and a general stampede was the result. Those within made 
I he best time they could in getting out ; a cry of fire could 
hardly have cleared the building more quickly, and they 
followed in the wake of those who were already marching 
up Baltimore Street, joined at every block by recruits. 
That was the first war meeting. There were eloquent 
addresses by Messrs. Yellott, Gallagher and Preston, and 
there was oreat enthusiasm shown ; but that meetine was 
insignificant compared with subsequent ones. 

It would be almost impossible to overstate the practical 
interest which the people showed in this war. Every bit of 
news from the front seemed to have the effect of a call for 
volunteers. From May to mid-summer the recruiting went 
forward. Companies belonging to the United States army 
and navy paraded with drum and fife to attract recruits. 

J he militia regiments perfected their organization, com- 
pleted their quota of officers and men, and stood ready to be 
of service, while Germans and Hebrews vied with Americans 
in enrolling themselves under the banner of Baltimore's 
patriotic sons. 

When the first news from the Rio Grande was received, 
Colonel Watson of the Independent Blues offered that 
corps to the Government. This he did without consulta- 
tion, but was afterward unanimously upheld by his men. 
llis proposal was to take charge of Fort McHenry in the 
absence of regulars. Roll books for volunteers were 
opened at the Exchange early in May, and at Union Hall 
also the enrollment went briskly on. The first company 
was that of Capt. James E. Steuart of the Washington 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 67 

Blues. This company paraded through the streets to 
Howard's Park, where they pitched nine tents loaned them 
by the Eutaw Infantry. This camp was near Captain Fred- 
erick's reservoir house. It was visited by a great many 
people, attracted by patriotism or curiosity, and among 
others were Generals Houston and Rust, United States 
senators from Texas. 

The Chesapeake Riflemen, recruited by Captain Steiner, 
had overflow meetings at the "Slashes of Hanover" on 
Pratt Street. This was the second company raised, and 
owing to the illness of Captain Steiner was commanded in 
the field by Captain Boyd. 

( )ne of the most largely attended of the war meetings was 
one in Monument Square, at which Col. Henry Stump and 
Gen. Branch T. Archerand othersspoke. But the greatest 
gathering of all was one presided over by the then mayor 
of Baltimore, Mr. Davies. It was held in the same place. 
During the interval men had had a chance to fire each 
other's enthusiasm. There had been fresh news from the 
seat of war. The necessity for volunteers was impera- 
tive. 

On the 23d of May a great mass of people stood in the 
Square. They were for the most part quiet and earnest 
when the chairman, Mayor Davies, arose and announced 
the first speaker. Few Baltimoreans but knew the fameof 
Reverdy Johnson and man)' had heard his eloquent voice. 
His was the rare case of a prophet who had honor in 
his own country. Seldom had he addressed a better audi- 
ence on a more inspiring occasion. But when the hero of 
San Jacinto stepped to the front of the platform the 
cry "Houston! Houston!" was followed by prolonged 
applause. The man who knew the Mexicans, root and 
branch; who remembered the Alamo; who leaned on his 



68 BALTIMORE. 

cane to relieve the pain of a wound from a Mexican ball ; 
the man who had succeeded in calling Santa Anna to 
account, and who had wrested Texas for the Union from 
the Mexicans, was the man who drew from that Baltimore 
crowd its most extravagant expressions of enthusiasm. 

Senator Houston's voice has been described often. It 
was clear as a flute. His forcible language and energetic 
delivery never failed to arouse enthusiasm in his audience. 
Their effect on that occasion was marked. 

Among those who heard the news of the first campaign 
on the Rio Grande, of the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca 
de la Palma, was Captain, or rather at that time Lieuten- 
ant, John R. Kenly of the Eagle Artillery Company. 
When the call of President Polk for volunteers followed, 
striking while the iron was hot, Kenly posted to Washing- 
ton and begged the President for a commission in the 
regular army. Mr. Polkadvised him to return to Baltimore 
and recruit a company there, on the ground that he could 
thus attain higher rank than would be possible in the 
regular army. Hesitating about receiving this very sensi- 
ble advice and still seeking a commission, the ardent young 
soldier was met by Lieutenant-Colonel Watson and urged 
to return. He did so and commenced recruiting at once, 
opening for the purpose a rendezvous at the Armory of the 
Eagle Company and another at the Trades Union Hall at 
the corner of Baltimore Street and Tripolette's Alley. The 
men immediately began to pour in so that in three days 
Captain Kenly returned to Washington with hfty-eight men, 
afterward receiving accessions which swelled the number 
to eighty-four. This company was called " Baltimore's 
( )wn." 

Still the contagion spread. Captain Kelly and others 
started the ball rolling among the ship-masters, pilots and 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 69 

mates. Their services were also offered to the Govern- 
ment. Another camp, on the corner of Calvert and Madi- 
son Streets, was that of the Towson Rifles. They were 
commanded by Captain Marriott. In the west part of the 
city Captain Piper enrolled an efficient company. 

Altogether by the last of Ma)' the volunteers of Balti- 
more numbered upwards of five hundred men ; amongthose 
who subsequently offered their services to the Government 
of Maryland was the Eagle Artillery. 

While these things were transpiring and the rumors of 
war were filling the hearts of young Baltimoreans with the 
generous ambitions of youth there came the news of the 
sad death of Major Ringgold. He had been in Mexico 
with General Taylor and had participated in thegreat hard- 
ships and partial successes which attended our arms there. 
Major Ringgold was a West Pointer. He had served with 
General Jackson in Florida, his health in fact being some- 
what undermined by his life in that country. Before the 
Mexican W r ar the War Department had entrusted him with 
the task of revising the United States Army tactics : he 
was a Baltimore man and beloved in his city. The news 
of his death followed close upon the tidings of the victory 
of Matamoras ; he died from a wound received at Palo 
Alto. In that battle he occupied the right of the line, his 
command consisting of the Fifth Regiment of infantry and 
the Third Horse Artillery, the guns of the latter drawn by 
oxen. The centre of the battle order was occupied by 
artillery, and the left by Duncan's Battery and the Fourth 
and Eighth Infantry. Lieutenant Ridgely, also a West 
Pointer and a Baltimorean, was with the centre. 

The first attack of the Mexicans was a cavalry rush. 
Making a detour behind a thicket of chaparral, the enemy 
were met by the Fifth Infantry, who formed in square to 



7 o BALTIMORE. 

receive them. They were successful in repulsing- the attack. 
Shortly afterward the artillery got to work and the gallant 
Ridgely conducted a duel on a large scale, advancing 
rapidly with his pieces along the road, and driving the 
enemy back. But during the firing Major Ringgold was 
hit with a cannon ball and lived but a short time. 

It was just after this news reached the city that Captains 
Steuart, Steiner and Piper with their companies left this 
city for Washington. 

Preparations were at once made to remove the remains 
of Major Ringgold from their resting-place on Mexican 
soil and bring them home. The conduct of this affair was 
entrusted to the Eagle and Junior Companies. About 
July ist, of that year, a vessel belonging to Baltimore 
brought home the sword, saddles, holster and other pos- 
sessions of Major Ringgold. These relics were of course 
eiven to his family. The saddle and holster were torn by 
the cannon ball which had taken the life of their owner and 
they were stained with his blood. 

One of the papers of the day said that it was hardly 
possible to keep the run of the new companies organizing 
or old ones reorganizing. Every day in the streets there 
were heard the roll of drums and the tramp of marching 
feet. And these were no play soldiers ; they proved on 
Mexican soil the good stuff of which they were made. 

Of course there were the usual presentations before the 
troops started for the front. After arriving in Washington 
Captain Steuart received from the ladies in Baltimore a 
beautiful flag, accompanied by a letter of complimentary 
import. His reply was manly and appropriate. Captain 
Kenly's company was the last of the first four recruited, 
to leave for the capital. His rolls had been filled in much 
shorter time than the others. The captain was presented 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 71 

with a pair of epaulettes by Capt. G. D. Spurrier in behalf 
of the Third Division of the Maryland Volunteers. Captain 
Kane of the Eagle Artillery just before the train started 
which was to bear the company to Washington, stepped 
forward and handed him a very handsome sword and belt. 
Captain Kenly's pledges on receiving the sword, unlike 
man)- such promises, were manfully kept. In Washington, 
" Baltimore's Own " united with the companies which had 
preceded them from the Monumental City, in a battalion 
under command of Lieut. -Colonel Watson. This command 
proceeded almost immediately to the front. It was com- 
posed of four Baltimore and two Washington companies 
and was styled the Baltimore and Washington Battalion. 
Company A was that of Captain Steuart. His lieutenants 
were Owens, Wilt and Chapan. Company B was com- 
manded by Captain Piper, whose lieutenants were Dolan, 
Taylor and Morrow. Then came C ami 1), which were 
Washington organizations. Next was " Baltimore's Own," 
Company E, with Lieutenants Schaetfer and Oden Bowie. 
Last came E, officered by Captain Boyd and Lieutenants 
Ruddach and Haslett. 

These were mustered into the army of the United States 
for twelve months or until the end of the war. Few people 
anticipated that the war was going to last longer than a 
year. General Taylor was fighting with the troops he had 
raised in Louisiana and those from Texas and Ohio. The 
additional forces from Maryland and other states it .was 
thought would prove sufficient to bring the war to an end. 
But people reckoned without Santa Anna. That wild and 
implacable genius, banished to Cuba after the Texan war, 
had been allowed by the United States to return to his own 
country and to a new destiny. On the 13th of June Colonel 
Watson's battalion, carrying with it the prayers and hopes 



7 2 BALTIMORE. 

of many of Baltimore's mothers and wives, sweethearts and 
sisters, embarked in the transport steamer " Massachusetts," 
and shortly afterwards started for the scene of action. 

The voyage of the " Massachusetts " was not an auspicious 
one. Her course lay through the Bahama Islands and in 
that region of uncertain currents and deceptive bearings 
the captain lost his way. After an alarming passage over 
banks where the clearness of the water constantly alarmed 
the soldiers with the impression that they were about to 
ground, the steamer ran ashore on one of the keys known 
as the Little Isaacs. 

Had it not been for the strength of the " Massachusetts'" 
hull and for the knowledge of seamanship displayed by 
some of the soldiers on board, the expedition of the Bal- 
timore Battalion would have come to an untimely end like 
that of the " Three Wise Men " of the nursery tale. But 
fortunately their better destiny prevailed. The vessel was 
got off by skillful manoeuvring of her sails and proceeded 
on her way. It was, however, along, tedious voyage. The 
water ran low, the crowded condition of the men in a 
tropical climate in mid-summer, made the seventeen days 
which elapsed before reaching their destination seem much 
longer, and the fact that the force was as yet undisciplined 
added greatly to the anxiety of those in command. But at 
length Brazos Island, near the Government depot of 
supplies for General Taylor, was sighted and a landing- 
made. Several of those who had gone so far to serve their 
country found a grave there in the sand on the very bor- 
der of a land they had come to invade. 

Captain Ridgely, of whom mention has already been 
made, was among the first of those who met the volunteers 
on their arrival. 

The campaign of the Rio Grande tested the mettle of 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 73 

the new soldiers. Hardest of all to bear perhaps was the 
apparently causeless delay which kept them, inactive for 
the first month after their arrival. There were skirmishes 
toward the end of that time, and finally about the mid- 
dle of August they were brigaded with the Louisville 
Legion of Kentucky Rangers and twelve companies of 
Ohio volunteers, making a brigade of two thousand men. 
These were obliged to march over a desert, treeless and 
arid, where after several days the men became frantic with 
the fatigue, heat and thirst, sometimes falling by the 
way in convulsions, from which a number never arose 
again. Such was the march from Matamoras to Comargo, 
such the first experience in the enemy's country, of men 
who had such a short time before gathered in Monument 
Square to listen to the ringing words of Houston and 
Johnson, who had paraded in all the pomp and pride of 
military display in the streets of Baltimore, who had per- 
haps pictured the soldier's life as something in the nature 
of a prolonged holiday. 

In the meantime, events transpired at home that brought 
more forcibly to the minds of those here the shadow side 
of warfare. The body of the lamented Major Ringgold 
had been at last brought back to Baltimore for burial. 
There are many who will recollect the solemnity of that 
time. A sense of loss seemed to pervade the city, and 
pride and regret struggled for the mastery. Of course all 
the military organizations which had not gone to the front 
took part in Major Ringgold's funeral. The rotunda of 
the Exchange was the spot selected for the body to lie in 
state, and there for three days it held solemn court, while 
thousands of people crowded to pay their respects to the 
memory of the dead hero. 

At this time other volunteer troops were ordered to hold 



74 BALTIMORE. 

themselves in readiness to advance to the seat of war. In 
Fort McHenry there were several companies and in 
September the brig "Saldana" of Baltimore carried two 
companies, one of infantry and another of mounted 
rangers, in the command of Captain Mason, to the front. 

Capt. Randolph Ridgely, who had succeeded to the com- 
mand of Major Ringgold's battery, was with the Baltimo- 
reans in the army of occupation of Brazos, and all were 
looking forward to Monterey. As we know, the advance 
toward Monterey was largely an experimental campaign. 
General Taylor was confessedly feeling his way with six 
thousand men, doubting if he could support a larger 
column in that country, so far from his base of supplies. 
With that little army were included the Baltimore volun- 
teers. Let me quote here what one of their own officers 
says of their organization at this time when they are as 
yet unformed soldiers. 

" Its character was that of being disorderly and riotous, 
which reputation it had brought from Washington and had 
added to on the Brazos, at Camp Belknap and at Matamo- 
ras ; but I say as a soldier that its behavior was as 
orderly and that it was more obedient and its appearance 
more soldierly than any I have seen. The reason why 
frequently its conduct was considered disorderly was owing 
to the fact that nearly every man was from the cities of 
Washington and Baltimore ; many of them had been 
sailors, others members of fire companies, etc.; and they 
were a wild, frolicsome, reckless set, full of fun and hard 
to keep in camp. They frequently came in collision with 
volunteers of other states, who, being mostly from the 
rural districts, would not understand the character or take 
the fun of these city fellows, particularly as they were 
dressed in army uniform." 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 75 

In approaching Monterey a further description is given 
by the same writer. 

" We marched along steadily and compactly all day, a 
west south-westerly course, keeping the mountains on our 
right and making apparently for a gorge in the Sierra. 
Our division was in the advance, preceded by Texan 
cavalry and followed by Worth's division and Butler's 
volunteer division. I was struck with the elasticity and 
the spirits of the men which, notwithstanding the wither- 
ing heat of the sun, found vent in song and laughter as 
th<)- stepped solidly to the front. The victories of Palo 
Alto and Resaca had given confidence to these men which 
was communicated to the volunteers, and I could not but 
reflect on the value which the prestige of success gave to 
our raw troops and the good policy which guided our 
being brigaded with the regulars." 

There were many incidental hardships to be encoun- 
tered, deaths from climatic causes, etc. But these things 
were forgotten as the troops approached the enemy's 
stronghold and came within sound of his guns. 

Monterey was strongly fortified. Its commander was 
General Ampudia, a man of valor though lacking in 
generalship. Generals Taylor and Worth acted in con- 
cert in the attack upon the city. It is not at all the pur- 
pose of this chapter to give a history of the Mexican War, 
but only to recall the part taken by Baltimore men who 
were known to all Baltimoreans and whose relatives and 
acquaintances are, many of them, still among us. Most of 
our boys were with General Taylor and were among the 
first to advance upon the Mexican stronghold, though not 
the first, by any means, to retire. Under the command of 
Brigadier-General Garland they entered the citv gallantly, 
subjected to a severe, direct and enfilading fire, which might 



7 6 BALTIMORE. 

well have appalled veterans. The loss was heavy, espe- 
cially after the city was gained, and through the perfect 
system of barricading in the streets further advance 
towards the citadel was impossible, yet here the brave 
fellows staid and failed to hear the order to fall back, until 
the command had been peremptorily repeated. The Balti- 
more Battalion became separated ; Captain Kenly took 
command of a part of it, in the absence of Colonel Watson, 
and fought with it till dark. Colonel Watson having: 
gotten away from his own battalion, fell in with some of 
General Worth's Ohio troops, who were storming from 
another direction, and he died fighting bravely at the head 
of their column. His body was afterward identified by 
Captain Kenly and brought home by Mr. Samuel S. Mills 
of Baltimore, who visited Mexico for that purpose. 

After three days of hard fighting Monterey fell. It is not 
necessary to tell the story of that magnificent battle here. 

Shortly after this Captain Ridgely, who had gone safely 
through this and other conflicts, was killed by a fall from 
his horse — a fate more strange because he was considered 
one of the best horsemen in the world. 

He was a great favorite with all the army, from General 
Taylor to the men in ranks. His funeral was the occasion 
of much sorrow and was generally attended by his brother 
officers. It is said that General Taylor, as well as many 
others present, was affected to tears. It was further af- 
firmed concerning Captain Ridgely that "if any officer has 
particularly distinguished himself, it is the lamented Ridgely, 
one of the most heroic and gallant officers in the army." 

The Baltimoreans were placed, after the death of Colonel 
Watson, under the command of Major Robert C- Buchanan, 
a West Pointer and a strict disciplinarian, who, they after- 
ward said, made soldiers of them in point of discipline. 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 77 

We cannot follow them through their various services. 
After the battle of Buena Vista, ended the campaign of the 
Rio Grande ; the first Baltimore Battalion was mustered out 
and before long a second body, similar to the first and 
largely composed of the same material, was enrolled and in 
the field. There was also organized a battery of Baltimore 
recruits under command of Capt. Lloyd Tilghman. 

Among the most brilliant actions which took place after 
the second enlistment of the Baltimore Battalion was that 
of the National Bridge and the fortress guarding one of 
the main passes in the Tierra Caliente. This was a large 
stone fort at the summit of a hill and completely com- 
manded the road. It became necessary to take this strong- 
hold. While part of the battalion made a feint of attacking 
from the front Major Kenly led in person a surprise party 
that ascended by a ravine at the rear of the fort, in order 
to take it in reverse. It was necessary after reaching the 
ridge which extended back of the works to advance in sin- 
gle file, or by threes at most. The surprise was complete. 
In a few moments Ridgely was in possession of the fort 
and the Mexicans were escaping as best they might down 
the steep hillside. Afterward, for two months the com- 
mand kept this important pass, upon which largely de- 
pended the arrival of General Scott's supplies, engaging 
constantly in a guerilla warfare. 

The presentation of the (lag under which the Baltimore 
Battalion had fought at Monterey, must not be forgotten. 
When that bod)' of tried and true soldiers was mustered 
out of service at Tampico, on the 30th of May, 1 S 4 7 , its 
commander, major Buchanan, wrote the following letter to 
the Mayor of Baltimore : 

"Dear Sir: — The term of service of the Baltimore Battalion having ex- 
pired, it becomes necessary to make a suitable disposition of the Hag under 



7S BALTIMORE. 

whose folds it so gallantly fought and so faithfully sustained the toils and 
privations incident to the last twelve months' campaign. The officers of 
the battalion desire that is should be presented to the Corporation of the 
city to be kept in the City Hall as a memorial of their regard for Balti- 
more. In this arrangement I most heartily concur. It therefore becomes 
my agreeable duty to forward the flag to you, the chief magistrate of the 
city, with the request that it may be disposed of in accordance with the 
wish of the donors. By our fellow-citizens it may well be regarded with 
a feeling of pride as having been the standard of a body of their friends 
which, for good discipline, soldierly deportment and efficiency for hard ser- 
vice stood in a most enviable position. The Rio Grande, Monterey, Vic- 
toria and Tampico will all bear witness to the service of the battalion. 
Sergeant-Major William T. Lenox, who carried the flag in the battle of 
Monterey after Hart was wounded and who has been the color-bearer 
since that time, will be entrusted with the duty of delivering it to you. 
'• I am sir, with much respect, 

" Robert C. Buchanan," etc. etc. 

On the ioth of July the flag was formally presented to 
the City Corporation, not by Sergeant-Major Lenox, as 
mentioned in the dispatch, but by Captain Steuart. The 
mayor received the flag, making a neat speech on the occa- 
sion, and then the crowd called vehemently for Captain 
Kenly, who responded eloquently. This occurred while 
Captain Kenly was recruiting the second Baltimore Battal- 
ion. It was just one year later that Captain Boyd and 
Lieutenant Taneyhill were killed in an action near Han- 
jutta, Mexico. Their funeral service was performed in 
Baltimore, in the presence of a very large number of their 
fellow-citizens, in the month of September. 

The Legislature of Maryland in January of 1S47 adopted 
resolutions of regret for the loss of those who had laid 
down their lives on the fields of battle. Among the names 
especially mentioned with a sense of loss were those of 
Colonel Trueman Cross, Major Samuel Ringgold, Colonel 
William H. Watson, Major William Lear, Captain Ran- 



THE MEXICAN' WAR. 79 

dolph Ridgely, and Past Midshipman John Ringgold 
Hynson. 

The last scene of the Mexican war had been enacted. 
The capital of that country had fallen before the victorious 
American arms, and Baltimore, that had contributed so 
lavishly to the army that achieved the victory, was justly 
proud and jubilant over the result. 

Perhaps, as a city, we have been always a little fond of 
pageantry and celebrations. It may be that our people 
both know how to right for a victory and how to rejoice 
over it. Be that as it may, the oldest inhabitants said that 
since Lafayette had been received in 1S24 there had been 
nothing seen in Baltimore like the brilliant festivities with 
which our people celebrated the final victory of Scott in 
Mexico. 

A moving multitude swayed back and forth through the 
streets, talking, laughing, congratulating each other. 
Above them, around them, from every point where bunt- 
ing could fly, waved flags and banners. Flowers and 
music, bon-fires, speeches, the discharge of fire-arms and 
the ringing of bells, proclaimed the gladness and exultation 
that filled all hearts. 

The Washington monument was illuminated ; the ship- 
ping in the harbor decorated ; even private houses wore, 
for the time, a new front, and for a time all but the few to 
whom sorrow had come most closely made a great holiday. 

And so I will close this chapter, not pretending that I 
had personal knowledge of all or most of the matters I have 
given in detail here. Many of them have been carefully 
gathered from records, newspaper files and reports, to make 
more accurate and complete my account of this not-to-be 
neglected period of our history. 



CHAPTER IV. 




IN THE ROARING FORTIES. 

GRADUATED from School Number Four, 
on Lee Street, to the high school, in the 
winter of 1848-49. The high school, 
where I stayed for three years, was in a 
building on Holliday and Fayette Streets, 
formerly the Assembly Rooms. The new 
Assembly Rooms, at the corner of Lombard 
and Hanover Streets, still stand. 
I was at the high school when Jenny Lincl came to 
Baltimore. She arrived in December, but the warmth of 
her reception must have made some amends for the 
coldness of the season. It would not have been strange if 
the creat sineer's head had been turned by the adulation 
she received. From the time she arrived at New York, 
when the crowds that gathered to receive her actually 
pushed people into the water in their eagerness, to the 
thousands of people who thronged around the depot at 
Baltimore to catch sight of her, it was one continuous 
triumph. Yet if she was spoiled she succeeded in conceal- 
ing the fact so that no one ever suspected it. 



& 



IN THE ROARING FORTIES. 81 

The " Swedish Nightingale," as it was the fashion to call 
her, was under engagement to sing for $ 1,000 a night. 
In Baltimore, at the Front Street Theatre, an eager throng 
gathered to attend the auction of seats for the first concert. 
The price of admission to all parts of the house, according 
to the terms of sale as stated by Mr. Gibson, the auctioneer, 
was fixed at $3 ; but the choice would go to the highest 
bidder. After some spirited bidding an enterprising 
daguerrotypist, Mr. Whiti •hurst, bid $100, at which the 
seat was knocked down. This, it goes without saying, was 
as good an advertisement as he could possibly have had. 

There were in all four concerts. The receipts for the 
first one amounted to $ 1 2,000, and the course aggregated 
more than $60,000. Front Street during the time of these 
concerts was literally jammed with vehicles of all descrip- 
tions, and the crowd of people on foot blocked the side- 
walks. Within the theatre the audience was as brilliant as 
can be imagined. Baltimore is justly proud of the fame of 
her beautiful women, and it is to be hoped that she will 
always have as good cause to be so as to-day, but never did 
the fair dames of the Monumental City appear more to 
advantage than when the great songstress drew the bright- 
est and most cultivated of them within the magic circle of 
her power. 

Do you wonder how I, a school-boy of fifteen, knew 
all this? Where I got my impressions about the fair audi- 
ence and the wonderful voice of the great singer? Of 
course every one knows that the school-boy, whatever he 
may have to-day, did not use to be financially in a position 
very often to enjoy Jenny Lind concerts. 

This was the secret. The " Queen of Song " was managed 
by the "King of Advertisers," and it entered his wise head 
that a good way to win a golden opinion in Baltimore was 



§2 BALTIMORE. 

to invite all the high school — or was it all the public 
school children ? — to a free treat. So we, who paid noth- 
ing, thankfully went to enjoy with those who paid twenty 
or fifty or a hundred dollars for the same pleasure, and I 
venture to say that we were no less moved by the marvel- 
lous music than were they. Thanks to Mr. Barnum's 
foresightedness the visit of Jenny Lind to Baltimore is one 
of the pleasantest memories of my boyhood, that keeps 
green in spite of the years. 

I recollect well the fight that took place between Yankee 
Sullivan and Tom Hyer in 1849. The efforts of the police 
and military to prevent it and the laughable fiasco that 
resulted from their joint efforts was the talk of Baltimore. 
I was then a school-boy, attending the high school, but in 
common with a great many other boys, I was greatly 
pleased with the appearance of Hyer, who used to walk up 
and down in front of the old United States Hotel. But 
that was after his victory. He was. a spare, active, six- 
footer, with an immensely long reach and the appearance of 
great strength — at least, so it seemed to me. Sullivan was 
a heavy-jawed, beetle-browed fellow, rather the superior of 
his adversary in size. In 1848, in an informal fight in New 
York City, Sullivan had been thrashed by Hyer, the latter 
having been saved by the activity of Officer (afterward 
chief) Walling, from the vengeance of Sullivan's friends. 

Before the Baltimore affair Hyer trained for the contest 
at Govenstown and Sullivan at Kendel's Race Track, Can- 
ton, in the neighborhood of Baltimore. Both he and Sulli- 
van were New York men, however. Not only did they pro- 
pose to settle the old dispute here, but the fact had been 
thoroughly advertised among the sporting fraternity. 
Every one knew when the " event" was to come off. Even 
the police were by no means ignorant of the proposed fight 



IN THE ROARING M >K TIES. 83 

and were informed of the place where it was to take place. 
As prize fights were then, as now, against the law, there 
was considerable curiosity to know what the force was 
going to do about it. The stakes were very heavy for that 
day, being $10,000, — and this fact perhaps added not a little 
to the excitement which aroused almost everybody. They 
set February ;th as the day. The High Constable, 
Gifford, started his force in hacks towards Carroll's Island, 
from which point they intended to swoop clown on the 
pugilists and their supporters. Taking into account either 
the prowess of the principals or the size of the crowd with 
them, or else fearing that his force would not be sufficient 
to divide for strategic purposes, the constable applied to 
the mayor to exercise his authority, who speedily ordered 
out the Independent Blues and the Independent Grays 
under Captains Hall and Shutt. The supreme command of 
this arm)- was assumed by the intrepid mayor. 

Very quietly, so as not to arouse any undue suspicion, 
Attorney-General Richardson chartered the steamer " bos- 
ton" as a transport boat to carry the military. The dignity 
of our laws was about to be vindicated, even if Yankee 
Sullivan and Tom Hyer had to be obliterated from the 
face of the earth. 

Very quietly, as befitted an army that was to move in 
several divisions upon so important and hazardous an un- 
dertaking, the forces gathered at midnight and embarked. 

On the boat intense excitement prevailed ; the expedition, 
before it ended, might perhaps take on some of the charac- 
teristics of a lion hunt. 

About three o'clock the combined forces rushed in from 
both sides to the ground where the fight was to take 
place. They found — the ropes. The giants, had met ; Tom 
Hyer had given Sullivan a terrible thrashing in sixteen 



84 BALTIMORE. 

minutes by the referee's watch and then both had quietly 
left for parts unknown. The constables and the military 
were both reticent about this affair for some time. For 
reasons of their own they did not care to discuss it. 

Among the events of '49 we must not forget the tragic 
death of Edgar Allen Poe, who began his life in Baltimore ; 
and although the greater part of his life work was done 
elsewhere, came back to the city of his fathers to enact its 
last sad scene. The poet's people had been Baltimoreans 
for several generations. His grandfather, David Poe, 
Senior, won fame during the Revolutionary War. His 
mother was an English actress, named Elizabeth Arnold, 
from whom it has been supposed that Poe derived that 
eccentricity of genius which is so characteristic of his work. 
He was not born in the city of Baltimore — in fact it is not 
known whether Boston or Richmond is the place of his 
birth, as his mother at that time was absent from her home. 
The date we know to have been January 20th, 1S09. Both 
of his parents dying while he was an infant, Poe was 
adopted by Mr. John Allen, a Scotchman, who lived in 
Richmond. The story of the care and love bestowed upon 
him by both Mr. and Mrs. Allen is well known. He was 
sent to England to school, where he began his education 
under Dr. Buzby ; on returning, he attended the University 
of Virginia. Although of excellent mental endowment, as 
we know, his career at school and college was a most 
unfortunate one. Both at tin: University of Virginia and 
at the West Point Academy, to which he was afterward 
admitted, he was dismissed for irregularities and compelled 
to return to the house of his adopted parents. As long as 
the first Mrs. Allen lived excuses were found for everything 
that the youth did, but upon her death his patron married 
asrain and Edgar and the new wife were unable to agree ; so 



IN THE ROARING FORTIES. 85 

he left that household and, thrown upon his own resources, 
began to earn his livelihood with the pen. There were 
several stories and poems published during the early part 
of his literary career which, although betraying great 
ability, did not attract much attention. We will not 
attempt to follow him in his upward struggle for recogni- 
tion and a livelihood. He was employed upon the staffs of 
several periodicals in different cities, and among others upon 
that of the Home Journal, of New York, which was then 
conducted by Gen. William Morris and X. P. Willis ; and 
here it maybe remarked that after Poe's death, when stories, 
greatly exaggerated, of his dissipated life and habits were 
currently told, Willis in a letter to the Home Joitmal de- 
scribed his relations with the dead poet and stated that 
through an acquaintance of several years he had never once 
seen him under the influence of liquor or other than mild 
and courteous in his manner. 

Without question, Poe's dark, melancholy, brooding tem- 
per not only led him to perform work which was peculiar to 
himself, but made him always misunderstood and misjudged 
by the majority of those that he came in contact with. Not 
only were his poems weird and wild, but some of his prose 
tales, deeply interesting as they were, were almost repulsive 
in their picturing of the darker side of human life and 
thought. One or two of Poe's stories show remarkable 
detective ability, and though Chief Walling in his book says 
that Poe would never have caught a thief in his life, yet we 
must admit that on paper he could carry a clue to its logical 
conclusion. Take, for instance, the story of Marie Roget. 
Stripped of its French name and Parisian surroundings the 
story was a true one. John Anderson, the New York 
tobacconist, who a few years ago left ten millions of dollars 
to his heirs, used to keep in his early davs a small tobacco 



86 BALTIMORE. 

shop in the lower part of New York. All of the young 
men of the town knew the place ; many would go far out of 
their way to buy their tobacco and cigars there, because 
behind the counter was Mary Rogers, the most beautiful 
girl in the city. Suddenly it became the talk of the town, 
the gossip of the clubs, the news of all the morning papers, 
that Mary Rogers had disappeared. Every effort was 
made to find what had become of her and after it was 
ascertained that she had been killed the police with redoubled 
energy endeavored to discover her slayer, but they did 
not succeed. Poe, reading what had been published, the 
testimony of those who had found the body of the unfortu- 
nate girl, and several items which had escaped the notice of 
the reporters and detectives, worked out his theory of the 
crime in the form of a story, and merely trans) la iting the 
scene of the whole matter to France called it " The Mystery 
of Marie Roget." In the story, as told by Poe, a sailor, or 
at least some one connected with shipping, is made the 
guilty party. Twenty years after the occurrence and pub- 
lication of this narrative, it is said that a sailor dying in a 
New York hospital confessed that he had killed Mary 
Rogers and that Poe's account was substantially accurate. 

There was a newspaper story told by a priest and pub- 
lished half a dozen years ago, which shows another phase 
of Poe's character and is a relief to the darker side of which 
we have heard so much, as it illustrates the poet's personal 
courage and self-forgetfulness. It is not generally known 
that he was an athletic man, well able to take care of him- 
self and of others. The story referred to tells how in mid- 
winter he swam among floating ice in the Hudson river to 
rescue a boy who had fallen into the water, and upon get- 
ting his charge safely out, strode rapidly away in his wet 
clothes as if to escape recognition. 



IN THE ROARING FORTIUS. 87 

No better testimony could be given as to the poet's 
sweetness of temper and pleasant disposition than the lov- 
ing admiration with which he was always spoken of by Mrs. 
Clemm, the aunt of his little wife, Virginia. Mrs. Clemm 
lived with them during their married life. Virginia Clemm 
was the Annabel Lee of the poem ; to her this singular 
genius paid the devotion of a lover until her death, and 
yet to illustrate how short-lived love and protection some- 
times seem, we learn from Air. William Fearinir dill's 
narrative, how in a very few years the resting-place of the 
poet's wife was so neglected and foj'gotten that her bones 
were thrown aside, at the Fordham Cemetery, to make 
room for others. We know that this never could have 
happened during Poe's lifetime. After his wife's death 
Poe was lecturing on temperance at Richmond, Virginia, 
when he met an early flame, who had become a widow. 
Renewing their old attachment they became enefasfed. On 
his way to New York to make preparations for his mar- 
riage, Poe stopped in Baltimore, where he was induced by 
some convivial companions to take a glass of wine. From 
that first glass, through two days of wanderings, of which 
we have no record, until he finally awoke to himself in a 
hospital at Washington, he was a madman, without sense to 
shame or ability to control his actions. Upon recovering 
himself, finding out where he was and realizing the awful 
disgrace that had overtaken him, his heart seemed to 
break and in a few hours he was no more. One might 
easily suppose that in some foretaste of that hour he had 
written the concluding lines of " The Raven " 



& 



And the raven never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting, 
On the pallid bust of Pallas, just above my chamber door — 
And my soul from out the shadow that lies floating on the floor, 
Shall be lifted, nevermore. 



88 BALTIMORE. 

One cannot speak of 1849 without suggesting at once 
to most people the excitement of the gold fever. With 
other cities of the East, and perhaps to a greater extent 
than most of them, Baltimore shared the infatuation which 
led so many thousands of men to leave home and all that 
made home dear to face untold perils, trials and hardships 
for the chance of getting a fortune out of the newly-dis- 
covered gold mines of California. A great many of those 
who went on this expedition after the " golden-fleece," went 
overland by way of Missouri, but by far the larger number 
of those who started from here took vessel, and eoine 
to Panama, approached El Dorado from the Pacific side. 
Without doubt it requires more courage at such a time to 
be left behind at home than it does to go with the crowd 
in all the activity and stir and life of the new adventure. 
Those who started for California in '49, were not all of 
them, or even most of them, from what we have been used 
to call the lower class — that is, people who are used to a 
rouo-her life and have little of this world's eoods. A creat 
many were young men, sons of prominent families, who 
had been delicately, carefully, brought up and used to 
eveiw luxury. On the wharves, there was many a touching 
scene, as wives and mothers and sisters parted from the 
young adventurers. Among the vessels which took from 
Baltimore those who were enchanted by the golden vision, 
were the Greyhound, Sovereign, John Potter, Kirkland, 
Tarquin, Juniata, Hebe, John Mayo, Richard W. Brown, 
Wilmington, and many others. 

I have spoken elsewhere of the firemen's riots, which 
made Baltimore streets so lively at times. These disturb- 
ances assumed a serious aspect in '47. Every possible 
method was used by those who desired to encourage fights 
between the rival fire companies to bring about meetings. 



IN THE ROARING FORTIES. 89 

Fires were frequently started at different [joints in the 
city, being so arranged that in going to them collisions 
were almost impossible to avoid. In September there was 
a fight between the Newmarket and United Firemen's Com- 
panies and the Watchman Company, the first two being 
combined. At the corner of Light and York Streets the 
encounter which was anticipated took place. For two 
hours a running battle was kept up along Light, York and 
Camden Streets ; bricks were torn up from the sidewalks 
and used as missiles ; pistols were fired; the Newmarket 
Company's reel and suction were carried after a hard battle, 
but the Newmarkets and their friends made a sudden sortie 
and after a sharp struggle succeeded in recapturing the suc- 
tion, and the reel was thrown off the wharf. 

The character of the volunteer firemen in Baltimore was 
similar to that of the same class of men in other cities. In 
the earlier days of the fire organization were some of the 
best known and most inrluental citizens, who were proud of 
their record as fire laddies. The reputation of the force 
differed from that afterward acquired. Gradually a much 
rougher element crept into the ranks. A rivalry gradually 
developed which grew in intensity and finally overrode all 
sense of chivalry and manliness. Added to this, the custom 
of allowing supernumerary members of companies, gener- 
ally boys or very young men, added an irresponsible ele- 
ment to the already deteriorated bands. It was not long 
before this organized fighting force in the city, for it was 
nothing less, became the natural ally or instrument of the 
contending political parties. From the firemen's riots, 
pure and simple, it was but a step to election riots that dis- 
graced Baltimore. For awhile it seemed that whichever 
party gained the ascendency over its rivals at the polls, did 
so largely by the use of such methods as those referred to. 



9 o BALTIMORE. 

At the time of the municipal election of 1850 two promi- 
nent men, Mr. Turner and General Watkins, were expectant 
candidates for the office of mayor. Mr. Turner was finally 
nominated, but there was so much dissatisfaction that Gen- 
eral Watkins became the candidate of a seceding- wing of 
the party. 

Some of the bolting Democrats who had withdrawn from 
the party with General Watkins, formed a political club 
and decided to support the Whig candidate: this club soon 
received the name of " Reubenites," and nearly all the 
toughs of West Baltimore were said to belong to it. 

The American party, or, as it was called, the " Know- 
nothings," dated back as far as 1S45, making then its first 
nomination for candidates for Congress and House of 
Delegates. Several years later the Whig party, feeling its 
integral weakness, bid for Know-nothing support, and the 
combination cut down the Democratic majority to very 
small proportions. After this the Know-nothings gained 
in force of numbers. In some other cities they became 
more powerful than in Baltimore prior to 1854. What the 
American party demanded in the first place was the modifi- 
cation of existing naturalization laws and a curtailing of the 
privileges of foreigners in the exercise of the elective fran- 
chise. Its opposition to whatever was un-American and 
foreign to the interests of the native born, was strong and 
bitter, and, perhaps, not wholly without excuse, but the 
ways in which this sentiment or principle frequently mani- 
fested itself were in themselves thoroughly un-American and 
dictatorial. This, however, was not the case at first, but 
rather developed after the party had gained strength and 
had fallen under the governing influence of what would to- 
day be called " the machine." 

The first public meeting which was held in the interests 




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IN THE ROARING FORTIES. 91 

of the Know-nothing part)' in Baltimore was in 1853, and 
on that occasion a large concourse of people gathered in 
Monument Square, some enthusiastic supporters of the new 
idea, and others simply attracted by curiosity. 

The speakers on this occasion argued very earnestly for 
an extension of time in the naturalization of aliens and 
the restriction of officediolding by foreign-born citizens. 
Colonel H. K. Elliott, of Philadelphia, had a fine baritone 
voice, and interlarded his speech with songs. The "Old 
Oaken Bucket" and "Home, Sweet Home," which were 
both much newer then than they are to-day, appealed to the 
sentiments of a certain part of the audience more directly 
than the most elaborate arguments would have done. 
The songs were most enthusiastically received. 

The election of 1854 was, in my opinion, a fair and 
honest one, in which each party contended for its own can- 
didates and principles without recourse to other than legiti- 
mate means, or if there were other methods used, they were 
not general nor confined to one party. It is almost impos- 
sible to eradicate this sort of thing entirely from an election. 

The Know-nothings had nominated Mr. Samuel Hicks 
as its candidate for the mayoralty and Mr. William 
Thomas as the Democratic nominee for the same office — 
the latter was defeated by a majority of 2,704 votes. 
The American party also gained the entire first branch and 
eight members of the second branch of the Common Coun- 
cil, thus practically controlling the city. The result of so 
complete a victory in municipal affairs could not but be 
harmful to any part)- organized as the American party was, 
giving as it did almost unchecked power to work out its 
own theories and designs. 

A tremendous excursion was organized by the Know- 
nothings in July of that year and thousands of Baltimo- 



92 BALTIMORE. 

reans went out to Rider's Grove on the Susquehanna rail- 
road for a good time. The number of these merrymakers 
was so large that extra trains had to be put on the road 
and even freight cars with chairs in them were used. This 
over-crowding of the road led to a terrible accident in the 
evening, an excursion train colliding with the regular 
passenger train to New York and a dreadful loss of life 
resulting. Besides the numbers who were seriously 
wounded there were twenty-eight people killed. The 
scene at the place where the accident occurred was ex- 
tremely distressing, as the splintered fragments of wreck, 
broken wood and twisted metal were only the accompani- 
ments of a more awful tragedy. The mutilated forms of 
those who had been killed, the cries of the injured and the 
deep grief of the bereaved could not but move the hardest 
heart to pity. An incident of this accident may be given 
to show how even skillful men may err in their judgment. 
A German named Reichenberger was so badly hurt that 
the physicians told him that his lower limbs would have to 
be amputated. He demurred at this, refusing to listen to 
any arguments on the subject. He would live with two legs 
or not live at all. Finding him so obdurate the surgeons 
let the limb remain and to everybody's surprise the man 
recovered. Indeed, he became too strong and active for 
the peace of the community and was obliged, several years 
afterward, to serve a term in the penitentiary. 

The opinion of a portion of the press, as given at the 
time, was that the Know-nothings were mostly recruited 
from the Democratic ranks, and, in fact, were essentially 
Democratic. Shortly after the election one of the papers 
said editorially that "The choice of the new municipal gov- 
ernment has been effected under circumstances which wdl 
give it great power to benefit the city. Placed in office by 



IN THE ROARING FORTIES. 93 

an overwhelming manifestation of public sentiment, un- 
trammeled by party ties and bound to none of the errors 
of its predecessors, we hope to see its energies devoted 
earnestly to the reform of abuses." 

After the victory there was a jubilee parade in which all 
the organizations of the new party took part. Among the 
transparencies displayed was one which bore this legend : 
" We have triumphed and the power is in our hands, we 
will use it for the good of the people." Very ditierent was 
such a sentiment as this from those which afterwards were 
blazoned on the banners of the same party. The Amer- 
ican party seemed to have come in on a tidal wave and tor 
a time completely overwhelmed its rivals. The success of 
the Baltimore election was but the prelude to as complete 
a victory in the state in '55. Seldom lias Maryland been 
the battleground for so fierce a political encounter as at 
that time. The conflict resulted in a Know-nothing 
majority of 2,699 votes ; four out of the six congressmen 
were elected, eight of the eleven state senators and fifty- 
lour of the seventy-four members of the House of Dele- 
gates. 

From this time a change was apparent. However cor- 
rect might have been the motive of the party managers at 
the outset, it soon became apparent to the least observant 
that within the outer organization was another which was 
practically a secret league, the methods of which not being 
subjected to the scrutiny of the people became a menace to 
the operation of popular institutions. There were Know- 
nothing clubs and Know-nothin<j' lodges throughout the 
city and state and these became known by appellations 
which would have befitted societies of bandits rather than 
those of reputable political workers. 

The growth of the pernicious influence resulting from 



94 



BALTIMORE. 



the dominant influence of unprincipled men was very rapid 
and as early as 1856 called forth a denunciatory clause in 
the message of Governor Ligon to the Legislature. He 
said upon that occasion : " I should fail to discharge a pub- 
lic duty were I not to allude to a new element in the 
political controversies of the times, which, in my opinion, 
has been productive of more baneful consequences and has 
done more to sever the ties which should bind our whole 
people together as one common brotherhood than any- 
thing which has occurred since the organization of our gov- 
ernment — I mean the formation and encouragement of 
secret political societies. The welfare of the Union de- 
pends so much upon the united patriotism of the whole 
people that any formidable effort to render alien to each 
other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal 
affection to segregate and divide them into clans or classes 
by a proposed exclusion of any right of citizenship, either 
on account of place, or birth, or religious opinion, must 
excite in every one feelings of painful solicitude. All his- 
tory admonishes us that a war of races or sects is the 
deadliest curse that can affect a nation." 

The governor further stated that the Know-nothing 
party was seeking to bring religion into politics, to prac- 
tically disenfranchise the members of the Catholic Church 
and was, therefore, subverting the cherished principles of 
the Constitution. 

Both the majority and minority reports were offered by 
the committee to whom the governor's message was re- 
ferred with its suggestions in regard to the American party. 
The result was what might have been anticipated from a 
House constituted as that was. The majority of the com- 
mittee simply refused to act in the matter. From the 
minority report the following language may give a clearer 



IN THE ROARING FORTIES. 95 

idea of the regard in which the Know-nothing-, were held. 
" This party openly assumed the name of the Know-noth- 
ings. It became publicly known that its members had secret 
places of meeting and conference in almost ever)' quarter 
of the state and country where its proselytes were made and 
received and where great vigilance and care were used to 
prevent anything that was done or said coming to the 
knowledge of the public. Witnesses concur in ascribing to 
this part)- the practices of observing secresy as to their 
movements and purposes, of binding its members by forms 
of oaths to proscribe from all offices by their votes or 
otherwise if possessed of political power all persons not of 
native birth ami all members of the Catholic religion and of 
aiming at and laboring to obtain for themselves political 
power and place." 

In November, '56, on election day, there was a terrible 
riot in" which both political parties were represented by 
bands of armed men. Fire-arms, knives and clubs were 
freely used. The Democrats and Know-nothings alter- 
nately drove each other from the polls. In one skirmish 
the latter were pursued up High Street, then rallied ami 
drove their opponents back, until the conflict became gen- 
eral. Houses were closed and the more timid portion of 
the population were afraid to appear on the streets. After 
a number of encounters, advances and retreats the Know- 
nothings were finally triumphant and the Democrats driven 
from the polls. But they retreated, fighting as the)- went. 
Most of the difficulty took place in the Sixth Ward. Inter- 
ference was attempted by the police from the Eighth Ward, 
who marched to the scene of battle, accompanied by a big 
crowd with fire-arms and two cannons. This force was sev- 
eral hundred strong. Between Bel Air market and Orleans 
Street they were met by a mob of infuriated rioters. A fra- 



96 BALTIMORE. 

cas was in progress between the Eighth Ward Democrats 
and Sixth and Seventh Ward Know-nothings, the first in 
the market house and the latter in the fish-market on the 
corner of Orleans Street. Here the cannons were brought 
into play by the mob, who completely surrounded the*small 
force of police Finally, however, the defenders of the 
peace succeeded in capturing the cannon. In the course 
of this affair there were many killed and wounded. 

1 he election riots of '56 were due to the efforts of the 
Know-nothing party to prevent the votes of naturalized 
citizens. Although this was a municipal election, the city 
was in a state of anarchy and the mob defiant of police 
power or authority. As Governor Ligon in his message 
says, " The subsequent record comprehended a list of killed 
and wounded truly appalling." There was considerable 
criticism upon the failure of the governor to call out the 
military on this occasion, which he explained by stating that 
he could not command them. 

The approach of the Presidential election of 1856 roused 
fear of similar proceedings. Before election Governor 
Ligon came to Baltimore and had a long conference with 
the mayor, Thomas Swan. He complained afterwards that 
Mayor Swan was unwilling to assume the responsibility of 
any preventive measures. And as it was then too late for 
him to act he also refused the responsibility, which thus be- 
came a shuttlecock between the chief executives of the 
state and of the city. Between the two, adequate meas- 
ures for preventing the repetition of former scenes dropped. 
The consequence was that when the time came there was 
more rioting and Baltimore was once more a battle-field. 

" Bloodshed, wounds and death," says the governor, 
"stained the record of the day and added another page of 
dishonor to the annals of the distracted city. I retired 



IN THE ROARING FORTIES. 97 

from the scene convinced that all this might have been pre- 
vented, and not without a painful sense of duty unfulfilled." 
This occurred in the governor's message to the Legislature 
of that year. 

Another year rolled by; the fall elections of '^j ap- 
proached and again there were premonitions of approach- 
ing trouble. The press was full of it. Every one looked 
forward to even more violent disturbances than those of 
the preceding year — an anticipation in which they were not 
disappointed. The Democrats were driven from the polls 
by the Know-nothings and were virtually disfranchised. 
The governor, as he explains, being appealed to, resolved 
after a long delay to interfere. He again went to Balti 
more and conferred with Mayor Swan with about the same 
result as before, except that the latter disputed the right 
of the state to interfere. On October 9th, . Governor 
Ligon issued a proclamation informing the people of 
Baltimore that he had taken measures toward militia organ- 
ization. 

General Steuart was ordered to hold his command, the 
hirst Light Division, Maryland Volunteers, ready for 
immediate service, and to Major-General John Spear Smith 
to enroll without delay a force of not less than six regiments 
,ol six hundred men each to be read}' for service at the time 
specified. After these orders were given, the controversy 
on the question of state authority continued between the 
governor and mayor but a very little while, the mayor 
soon declining to commit himself further on the subject. 

Soon the mayor suggested a plan for the preservation of 
peace in the city and the protection of the rights of citizens 
at the polls. A strong pressure was brought to bear upon 
the governor to recall his proclamation, and refrain from 
his proposed interference, leaving the matter entirely to the 



g S BALTIMORE. 

mayor. As a compromise measure Ligon stated through 
the public prints that he would not use the troops called 
for upon election day, though he did not resign the principle 
of state authority in the matter. The following election 
while not as bloody or as riotous as the preceding, was 
nevertheless disgraceful and the polls remained practically 
in the hands of the dominant party. 

The following year, at the municipal election, Col. A. P. 
Shutt, the Independent candidate for mayor, seeing the 
state of affairs and believing that it would not be possible 
for his friends to approach the polls, took the precaution of 
withdrawing in preference to suffering defeat. 

The election troubles and disturbances of these several 
years culminated in the terrible riots of the contested 
November elections of '59- The actors, though still practi- 
cally the same, were now warring under other names. This 
time it was the Rip Raps and Reformers. The most hor- 
rible atrocities were committed. Germans, both naturalized 
citizens and some who had been in the country but a little 
while, were seized, confined, kept prisoners for clays, forced 
to vote at different polls in the city, in some cases as many 
as sixteen times apiece. Men who opposed these proceed- 
ings were mobbed and shot down on the street. In the 
Fifteenth Ward the Kyle brothers were attacked for having, 
tickets of the other party. One, in the struggle which en- 
sued, was severely wounded ; his brother, after having been 
knocked clown and struggling again to his feet, was finally 
killed. A number of firemen who had taken their position 
in windows overlooking the polls made free use of fire-arms, 
intimidating those of the opposing party who tried to 
approach. In the court of investigation which followed the 
fact was elicited that no man was allowed to vote at that 
election except at the pleasure of the Know-nothings. A 



IN THE ROARING FORTIES. 99 

new weapon came into play at this time. It was pictured 
upon the calls which the Know-nothing leaders freely 
circulated. This was the shoemaker's awl, which, easily 
concealed, became as dangerous as a stiletto in the hands 
of an unscrupulous man. 

One can easily see how effectually a ruffian, bent on mis- 
chief, could work his way through a' crowd with such a 
weapon, undetected. It was a cowardly spirit which 
prompted its use and was thoroughly in keeping with the 
other methods of those who wielded it. 

The efforts which were made by earnest, respectable men 
to put a stop to these abuses were finally successful, or at 
least partially so. On February ist, i860, the reform bills 
were passed, though not without serious and fervent 
opposition. Part of the provisions of these acts referred to 
a reorganization of the Baltimore police. The plan of 
reconstruction called for four commissioners with whom the 
mayor was to act. The change in the force was radical. 
Previous to this time the police had been municipal ; now 
they became metropolitan. 

The four commissioners who had been appointed under 
the new law were Charles Howard, Win. H. Gatchell, 
Charles D. Hinks, and John W. Davis. Legally the new 
commissioners were ably represented, their counsel being 
Reverdy Johnson, S. Teackle Wallis, f. Mason Campbell 
and William H. Norris, Esqrs. Through these gentlemen 
the Board demanded possession of all the station-houses, 
police equipments and other property pertaining to the 
Police Department in the city. 

Immediately upon the passage of the new bill, Mayor 
Swan had announced his intention of testing its legality. 
This he did by refusing compliance with the demand of the 
commissioners, and there was nothing left for them to do 



L.oFC. 



ioo BALTIMORE. 

but to apply to the Superior Court for a mandamus com- 
pelling the surrender of the property. Judge Martin of 
that court delivered his opinion, which was adverse to the 
mayor and was immediately appealed from and the Court 
of Appeals finally rendered a decision in favor of the Board 
of Commissioners. There was nothing then left for the 
opposers of the reconstructive measures but to submit with 
as good a grace as possible — which they did. On the 
seventh of May, i860, therefore the mayor bid good-bye 
to the members of the old police force, who were dis- 
banded. 

Marshal Herring and Deputy Marshal Manley stepped 
out, and Marshal Kane assumed command of the Baltimore 
police. The first public affair in which the new force 
appeared was that of the arrival and reception of the Japan- 
ese embassy, the guests of the United States, who made a 
short stay in our city before going further north. 

Foreigners from the far East had not become so familiar 
a sight in America at that day as they have since. Their 
strangfe faces and stranger costumes could not but excite 
intense interest on the part of those who thronged to see 
them. They were the representatives of a heathen people, 
about whom all sorts of curious things were told and be- 
lieved, and who were vaguely confounded in the minds of 
most people with the Chinese. The fact that our govern- 
ment had entered into treaty relations with this nation 
added to the interest with which they were regarded. 

Great preparations had been made for their reception. 
The City Council had so far as possible arranged every- 
thing with a view to makine the short visit of these Orien- 
tals as enjoyable as possible. Early in the morning the 
people began to gather, windows along the line of march 
were at a premium, stands were erected in front of stores, 



IN THE ROARING FORTIES. 101 

and the standard of Japan mingled its folds with the stars 
and stripes in numberless decorations. 

.Mayor Swann met the guests when they arrived at the 
Camden Street station, from whence they were conveyed 
in carriages, escorted by the new police, the paid fire 
department — which also made its first appearance in public 
on that day — and a great civic procession, to the hall of the 
Maryland Institute. There the formal reception was held, 
after which the Japanese were escorted to the Gilmor 
House, where suitable preparations had been made to en- 
tertain them. In the evening fireworks and illuminations 
concluded a rememberable gala day. 

On October ioth of that year the elections were held in 
an orderly manner. The new police proved its efficacy, the 
reform candidate for mayor was elected by a large majority, 
and the lono- rule of the Know-nothings was over in 
Baltimore. 



CHAPTER V. 




BALTIMORE AS A CONVENTION CITY. 

-HERE were two churches in Baltimore that 
became very famous for other than relig- 
ious causes. These were the Calvert Street 
Universalist Church and the old Presbyte- 
rian place of worship on the corner of 
Fayette and North Streets. They were 
the scene of many a hot convention of 
Whigs, Democrats and Know-nothings. 
Other places which were associated with 
national conventions were the Assembly Rooms at the 
corner of Fayette and Holliday Streets and the hall ef 
the Maryland Institute. 

Ours was for a number of years the great National Con- 
vention city, from which news went out to the anxious 
states before elections, telling them for whom they were to 
vote and fight and get worked up to a fever heat. 

Some of these conventions I have already spoken of, 
some occurred before my day or before I was old enough 
to appreciate what was transpiring in the world. In the 
year that I was born, 1835, Martin Van Buren received his 



BALTIMORE AS A CONVENTION CITY. 103 

first nomination for the Presidency of the United States 
and R. M. fohnson for the second place on the ticket. 

In i8_jo the Democrats again nominated \ an Buren, 
leaving the choice for a candidate for the Vice-Presidency 
to the states. That same year there was a great occasion 
for the Whigs when they held their convention. That is 
one of the traditions of the city, which I can only give as I 
have heard it, for even unlimited hard cider and log cabins 
fail to impress the boy of five years old. That was a meet- 
ing of the giants. Daniel Webster was there and spoke, 
so also were Henry Clay, John Sargeant, William C. Pres- 
ton and other brilliant men. It would be hard to imagine 
a more noteworthy group of characters, whose powers and 
foibles have alike become historic. 

In 1852 the Democrats met at the hall of the Maryland 
Institute, and after five days of hard fighting and a great 
expenditure of energy, nominated General Franklin Pierce 
for the Presidency and William R. King for the Vice-Presi- 
dency. It was in '52 also that the Whigs met in convention 
sixteen days later than the Democrats, at the same hall, 
and nominated General Winfield Scott, who came before 
the country enveloped in his Mexican laurels. There was 
some question in the minds of the people at large as to 
what proportion of those laurels belonged to General Tay- 
lor. Scott was nominated on the fifty-third ballot. Wil- 
liam A. Graham received the nomination for Vice-President. 

After the adjournment of this convention on the evening 
of the 2 1 st of June, Monument Square was the scene of 
one of the largest assemblies ever seen there. The people 
came from all quarters, many from out of town, the pur- 
pose announced being to ratify the Whig nominations. The 
meeting was organized with Hon. H. F. Jerome in the chair. 
Messrs. Preston, Gardner, Verier and other well-known 



104 



BALTIMORE. 



speakers addressed the surging crowd which, it has been 
estimated, must have numbered at least twenty thousand. 

There was an incident which created considerable tempo- 
rary excitement among those who attended the Democratic 
convention held in the basement of the Universalist Church 
in 1848. It was on the third day of the convention, I 
believe; the hall and galleries were crowded and great in- 
terest had been evinced in the exercises. Suddenly a 
crackling sound like the noise made by wood breaking and 
giving way alarmed the people. The speaker — I have for- 
gotten who had the floor at the time — paused and looked 
toward the galleries. In a moment, almost before a breath 
could be drawn, a panic had taken possession of the people 
in the building. Some shouted that the gallery was falling, 
that the supports were giving way; others cried "Fire." 
Of course there was a stampede for the exits and many 
people were bruised. After the excitement had somewhat 
subsided, and the audience had vanished, an examination 
of the gallery was made and it was found that a bench had 
given way. 

Never has there been in this land such excitement and 
intense interest shown in the result of the National Con- 
ventions, as in the years immediately preceding the great 
war and never have platforms and candidates received 
closer scrutiny or been more really important to the whole 
people than then. The often discussed merits of the dissen- 
sions and antagonisms of that day 1 do not propose to discuss, 
since this is a work, not of philosophy and political 
economy, but of recollections of people and events. 

In the old Presbyterian Church already mentioned there 
was in i860 a convention of combined Whigs and Know- 
nothings, the latter party being almost defunct by that 
time. The Know-nothings had declined steadily, as issues 



BALTIMORE AS A CONVENTION CITY. 105 

of more immediate and paramount importance than they 
represented came up for popular consideration. But they 
still had the strength requisite for an alliance. 

John J. Crittenden of Kentucky called the convention 
to order, Washington Hunt of New York was chosen chair- 
man and after a session of two days was nominated for the 
Presidency and Edward Everett's name completed the 
ticket. At that convention there were ten states — Califor- 
nia, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, 
Rhode Island, Oregon, South Carolina and Wisconsin— 
that were not represented. 

The National Democratic Convention of that summer 
was one which had met at Charleston, S. C, and had 
adjourned after a sharp quarrel. The question of the Cin- 
cinnati platform and its articles, the recognition of rival 
delegates, the adjustment of conflicting interests and antag- 
onistic views, all proved to be too much for that convention. 
It re-convened at Baltimore on the iSth of June. The 
place of meeting was the Front Street Theatre. This 
building had been used for comedy, as a circus, as a hall, 
but never had its stage supported the actors in so exciting 
a drama, so absorbing a tragedy as now. 

A flooring was built over the whole of the stage and par- 
quet so as to give level footing for the delegates. These, 
with the newspaper correspondents and those who had 
business on the floor, occupied the centre of the house, 
while the galleries were filled to overflowing with an eager 
and expectant audience. There were murmurs of expecta- 
tion, expressions of impatience that grew louder. Then 
ever)" one was quiet once more — the convention was 
choosing a chairman. Caleb Cashing was selected to pre- 
side over the deliberations of what turned out to be the 
stormiest convention ever held in the United States. 



106 BALTIMORE. 

The most breathless attention was given when the calling 
of the roll by states was announced, because every one 
wondered whether the delegates who had seceded at 
Charleston would be recognized at Baltimore. 

The question was immediately, though only temporarily, 
disposed of by the ruling of the chair to the effect that 
states not present at the adjournment of the preceding 
convention should not be received. This ruling barred 
out South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas. 

In the lull which followed, the convention was opened 
with prayer by the Rev. |ohn McCron. Immediately after- 
ward the debate began upon the right of seceding delegates 
to re-enter the convention. The debate was a heated one, 
lasting for several hours and working the members into a 
fever heat of partisan feeling. Some of the speeches made 
were exceedingly bitter. 

The states recognized as being fully represented were 
New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, Maryland, New 
Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, North 
Carolina, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wis- 
consin, Iowa, Minnesota, California, Oregon, Connecticut, 
Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Eight of the Southern 
states, beginning with South Carolina, were not called, 
being left out by the direction of the President on the 
ground already stated. 

The vexed question was at length referred to the com- 
mittee on credentials, and it was proposed to instruct the 
committee that no delegate should be allowed to return till 
he should express his willingness to submit to the will of the 
majority and support whatever candidate should be chosen. 
This called forth a renewal of debate. 

On the 2 1 st of the month, the fourth day of the session, 



BALTIMORE AS A CONVENTION CITY. 107 

the committee on credentials, finding it impossible to agree, 
submitted a majority and minority report. The majority 
report recommended the admission of the contesting 
Douglas delegates in place of those who had seceded from 
the Charleston convention. The Douglas delegates were 
from Louisiana and Alabama and several parti)- represented 
states. The minority report was against the admission of 
the Douglas faction and in favor of the seceders. 

On the 2 1 st, when the report of the committee on creden- 
tials was handed in, as though all of the events of that 
unfortunate convention had not been sufficiently dramatic, 
there was a sudden panic on the floor. As if to illustrate 
the instability of the credentials and pretensions of the 
rejected delegates, the floor upon which the convention was 
held began to move. The centre was sinking. New York 
began to slide, other states joined in and united more 
closely physically than they would consent to do in opin- 
ions. For in a moment a mingled mass of men la}' huddled 
and struggling at a point where the props had given way 
and the floor caved in. Presently they began to disentangle 
themselves from the chairs and desks which had shared 
their sudden disastrous descent, ami after calling vainly for 
assistance from their fleeing associates, crawled back to a 
place of safety. Fortunately the distance from the flooring 
to the parquet beneath was only three or four feet, so that 
there was no great damage done. It was the comedy scene 
in an otherwise sober play. As soon as the excitement 
from the breaking of the floor had partly subsided, one of 
the delegates, Captain Rynders, rose and shouted : " Mr. 
President, the platform has not broken down, only one of 
the planks." There were many jokes at the expense of 
New York and Pennsylvania, who, it was said, had gone 
down together. One member moved to adjourn while 



108 BALTIMORE. 

seats and platform were repaired. Another replied, they 
might adjourn and repair the Democratic party. 

On Friday the majority report was adopted. A motion 
to reconsider was made and lost by the deciding vote of the 
New York delegation. This put the Douglas men in a 
position to be heard. Immediately after the decision was 
made known, twenty-five out of Virginia's thirty delegates 
withdrew. Following the example of Virginia went North 
Carolina, California and Oregon. Georgia refused to re- 
turn and other states were divided. 

When the California delegation returned, Mr. Smith of 
that state made a speech, in which he alluded to the pro- 
priety of enacting such a tragedy in a theatre, and predicted 
that when it was fully played the Democratic party would 
be found to be the victim. 

In the meantime, while these exciting events were going 
on in the theatre, Baltimore was the scene of nightly meet- 
ings of excited Democrats, who talked and argued persist- 
ently and angrily, and listened to speeches in which were 
repeated the acrimonious utterances or the grave words of 
forethought and wisdom that had been spoken in the conven- 
tion. It was an intense, fervent mental atmosphere in 
which men lived at that time. Everything assumed a sinis- 
ter aspect. That night was one of great tension. Every 
one was wondering what the morrow would bring. Those 
who reflected most deeply on the events of the times, 
dreaded the disruption of the old party and anticipated 
defeat. The events which followed were among the most 
significant in the history of any party or of any country. 
Few understood how important the hour was or how much 
was involved in the approaching separation. It was the 
final expression of opinion that differed so radically, so 
vitally that the world should be shaken before the breach 



BALTIMORE AS A CONVENTION CITY. 109 

could be healed. Back of the questions of seceders and 
Douglas delegates lay principles which each faction consid- 
ered worthy to be maintained at any cost. 

On Friday morning- Caleb Cushing, the president of the 
convention, announced his intention to withdraw, and with 
him went the Massachusetts delegates. Benjamin F. Butler 
made a speech, stating that his personal action was taken 
on anti-slave trade ground. The doctrines of non-interven- 
tion and popular sovereignty were hotly alluded co. 

Governor David Todd, of Ohio, assumed the chair on the 
retirement of Air. Cushing, and those of the Southern men 
who were satisfied with the Cincinnati platform remained in 
the convention. After the withdrawal of the new seceders 
Stephen A. Douglas was nominated by acclamation. The 
excitement was intense. F"or a few moments no single 
voice could be heard above the uproar which filled the 
theatre. A storm of applause was mingled with cheers and 
with the strains of the band, which was endeavoring to play 
" Hail to the Chief." From one of the galleries the Key- 
stone banner was displayed. 

Fitz Patrick of Alabama was nominated to the Vice- 
Presidency, but declined. The nomination of Stephen A. 
Douglas created a furore in the city hardly less than that 
which had characterized the proceedings in the theatre. 
There were speeches made from almost every prominent 
point, at the Gilmor House and at the Douglas head- 
quarters on Monument Square especially. There was a 
large procession and a serenade to Mr. Douglas in the even- 
ing, to which he responded in a speech which set forth his 
well-known principles of non-intervention. The delegates 
which had withdrawn from the convention met at the Mary- 
land Institute on Saturday. With them were those who 
had been refused admission previously. 



no BALTIMORE. 

New York, Vermont, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, 
Georgia, California, Oregon, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, 
Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, 
Kentucky, Arkansas, Delaware and Pennsylvania, — in all 
twenty-six states were represented. These called themselves 
the true Democratic convention, on the ground that they 
represented a majority of the states in the Union. Caleb 
dishing was again called to the chair. The delegates to 
the Richmond National Convention, which had been refused 
admission by the adjourned convention, from which they 
themselves had seceded, were invited to join with the 
National Democratic Convention then assembled, on the 
same platform of principles, if they felt authorized to do so. 

The majority report which had been offered in the con- 
vention of Charleston and rejected, was again offered by 
Mr. Avery of North Carolina. George B. Loring of Mass- 
achusetts after a stirring speech nominated John C. Breck- 
enridge, of Kentucky, for the Presidency. This was known 
as the " Breckenridge " convention, and the other as the 
"Douglas." Daniel S. Dickinson of New York was nomi- 
nated to the second place on the ticket. 

On the 9th of July, 1872, the National Democratic Con- 
vention met at Baltimore, at Ford's Grand Opera House. 
Every state was represented by delegates, as well as most 
of the territories. The large theatre was packed with peo- 
ple. Besides those who took part in the convention and 
the host of newspaper men who represented leading journals 
of the country, there was a brilliant assemblage of men and 
women who were eager to witness a spectacle such as had 
not been seen in the city since before the war. There 
was a wealth of decoration, flags draped and festooned 
between the coats-of-arms of the different states, and long 
streamers of bunting or of silk added to the display. The 
effect of the ofaslioht made the scene still more attractive. 



BALTIMORE AS A CONVENTION CITY. in 

James R. Doolittle, of Wisconsin, was chosen permanent 
chairman. After considerable debate, the platform of the 
Cincinnati Liberal Republican Convention was adopted, 
and the candidates nominated at that convention were 
also endorsed as best illustrating the principles of the 
platform. These were Horace Greeley for President and 
E. Gratz Brown for Vice-President. Every one remembers 
Thomas Nast's cartoons, in which Greeley, with all his 
peculiarities, was held up to popular ridicule. It has even 
been said that they were the cause of Greeley's death, 
which followed so soon alter his political defeat in that 
campaign. But at the convention there was not a thought 
of such a conclusion as that. All were, apparently, enthu- 
siastic and confident. Yet it was a confidence that had 
little foundation ; for the adoption of both platform ami 
candidates was a compromise and ended only as compro- 
mises most frequently do. It is hard to discover which is 
the most surprising spectacle ; that of a really wise and 
able man, so carried away by ambition as to present him- 
self as a candidate to the party of whom he had always 
been one of the strongest opponents, or of such a part)' 
accepting him as their leader. 

At the time of the convention the "New Departure" 
split from the main bod)- and met at Maryland Institute, 
on the 9th of fuly, to nominate a ticket on the straight out 
party platform. Their nominee was the clear-headed New 
York lawyer, Charles O'Connor, but Mr. O'Connor could 
see a long way with those quick blue eyes of his and he 
saw defeat ahead for the bolting wing of the party ; so he 
declined the nomination, after which the promoters of the 
new movement for the most part fell into line with the 
body of the party and enjoyed the general defeat the fol- 
lowing November. 



CHAPTER VI. 




THE TURN OF THE TIDE. 

was in the fall of i860 that the first out- 
ward sign of sympathy with the secession 
movement was shown in Baltimore. Sev- 
eral palmetto flags were unfurled, the first 
being from the window of the Liberty 
Engine House, on Liberty Street, near 
Fayette. This building has since been 
torn down. The date of this occurrence 
was November 26. 

Early in January of the succeeding year a mass meeting 
of workingmen was held in Maryland Hall, its object being 
to express a desire for the perpetuity of the Union. On 
the night following, the Maryland Institute was the scene of 
one of the largest assemblages ever held there. This was 
also a o'reat Union demonstration. At seven o'clock the 
doors were opened, fifteen minutes later the floor of the 
house was packed and the galleries were then used to 
admit the crowd. When the meeting was called to order 
the chair was filled by Archibald Stirling. Among the 
speakers were W. H. Collins, A. W. Bradford, Reverdy 



THE TURN OF THE TIDE. 113 

Johnson and other gentlemen. Mr. Johnson, who spoke 
with his usual brilliancy and force, was then sixty-five years 
old, but his natural fire was unabated. One side of the 
great question of the day, and only one side, was repre- 
sented in the crowd that attended that meeting. Those 
who looked upon the question in one light were 
permitted to express their views undisturbed, the band 
played the " Star Spangled Banner," " Yankee Doodle " 
and other patriotic airs and the national (lag was dis] >luyed. 

We must not forget the position of Baltimore at this 
time; only those who lived here then can billy realize the 
conditions. The city was divided between Northern and 
Southern sympathy. Born to a heritage of belief in state 
sovereignty, naturally siding on the question of slavery 
with her more southern sisters, bound by ties ol blood and 
of creed with both tin: North and the South, it is little 
wonder that all Maryland and especially the city ol Balti- 
more should have been in a turbulent condition. Upon 
each side could be found some- ol her greatest citizens. It 
was the case of a house divided against itself, a position no 
less hard in a state or a city than in a family. Consciences 
and principles equally strong were pulling men of equal 
position, character and ability in opposite directions. Be- 
tween these was a large class of temporizers. There were 
meetings at which extreme views of both factions were 
expressed, for Baltimore has never lacked for eloquent men 
when there was anything to say. 

So for a time the whole state hung on the edge of seces- 
sion. Nothing could better describe her situation at that 
time than the illustration of a delicately balanced pair of 
scales that a hair would tip one way or the other. At a 
meeting of committees to discuss the all-engrossing subject, 
Mr. Duvall and others favored a "masterly inactivity." 



ii4 BALTIMORE. 

The meeting referred to was held in the Law Building on 
Lexington and St. Paul Streets. 

It will be remembered that senators from Alabama, 
Mississippi and Florida, stated in the United States Senate 
upon the 21st of January that the states that they repre- 
sented had withdrawn from the Union and they from that 
body of which they had been members. An anxious delay 
followed this announcement. There was a withdrawal of 
states, but no war. All over the country people were wait- 
ing for the surrender of Fort Sumter, but the news did not 
arrive. 

Other meetings in Baltimore followed those already 
mentioned, some in favor of restoring the Union of the 
states through discussion and arbitration, showing" a faith 
in the power of words that was misplaced — since the day 
for words had gone by. In February a people's convention 
met in Maryland Institute Hall to send delegates to a con- 
vention which was to discuss Maryland's attitude toward 
the Union. The announcement of the organization of the 
six states, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana 
and Florida, under one Confederate government, made this 
move pertinent. The seceding states had set an example 
which many of our brightest leaders thought it would be 
most wise and patriotic to follow. Still no blow had been 
struck, though the surrender had by this time been repeat- 
edly demanded by the South. Indeed a great reluctance in 
resorting to actual war and bloodshed led to the expressive 
term " verbal secession " which was in use at the time. 

Yet right in the midst of all the excitement and turmoil, 
Washington's birthday was celebrated with the greatest 
enthusiasm ; indeed, it seemed to be an occasion in which 
both sides were glad to unite, a unique performance on the 
eve of a civil war. Men who a year afterward would be 



THE TURN OF THE TIDE. 115 

fighting with patriotic heroism in opposing armies, at this 
time marched side by side in procession to the inspiring 
quickstep of national airs, under the folds of a flag be- 
neath which they became reunited only after many dear 
bought experiences. 

No doubt Abraham Lincoln's passage through the city 
of Baltimore did something to strengthen the hands of 
those who leaned to the Southern cause. The Baltimore 
Sim, which with the other papers had noted and reported 
the course of Mr. Lincoln on his way through the Northern 
states to Washington, came out on the 23d of February 
with a strong editorial, in which it appealed to the people 
to treat the President of the Union with dignity and re- 
spect. It told at what hour he was expected to arrive on 
that da)-, and said : " It is of great concern to all who love 
and would honor the state of Maryland and city of Balti- 
more that no demonstrations, even by a single individual, 
inconsistent with our self-respect, should be made. We 
would a thousand times rather see the most elaborate 
exhibition of official courtesy, (unbecoming as it would be 
in such a case,) than that the slightest personal disrespect 
should mar the occasion or blur the reputation of our well- 
ordered city." 

While the press was pounding out this appeal to the 
good sense of the people, Mr. Lincoln, who was badly ad- 
vised, and who, perhaps, recollected Mr. Buchanan's rather 
stormy passage through Baltimore, stole quietly through 
our city in the dead of night, on the way to his inaugura- 
tion. It would be difficult to estimate the effect of this act 
upon the Union men of Baltimore, who could not but be 
stung by such an exhibition of mistrust and fear. We now 
know that Mr. Lincoln had been warned by letters that his 
assassination was planned, but he was neither the first nor 



mm BALTIMORE. 

the last of the Presidents-elect who received such corre- 
spondence and the avoidance of danger did not fill a South- 
erner's idea of courage in a leader. 

The excitement which, as we have shown, had been 
steadily growing for a month, reached a climax when the 
news from Charleston told of Sumter's fall and Anderson's 
surrender. The long anxiety had got to be almost unbear- 
able when the guns spoke at Charleston and echoed from 
one end of the land to the other. It was no longer a war 
of words. Those who had favored a masterly inactivity 
were forced to abandon that position which became as 
untenable as Sumter itself. Henry Ward . Beecher said 
" There have been many speeches made by eloquent men, 
but the guns of Sumter have spoken more than them all." 
That was a time for the gathering of the clans. There 
was a meeting of Southern Rights men at Taylor's Hall ; in 
the morning of the same day four young men, wearing 
Confederate badges, strolled up the street and were imme- 
diately surrounded by an excited crowd. " Take those 
cockades off ! " was the cry. A refusal brought on a scene 
in which the spirited young men might have been roughly 
handled but for the interference of the police. A little 
later this scene was repeated and only by the strenuous 
exertions of Marshal Kane were they rescued. At another 
time a South Carolinian was set upon in a similar manner 
for a like cause and only rescued with difficulty. In the 
harbor, scenes of very much the same character were being 
enacted. The bark " Fanny Crenshaw," which lay at 
Chase's Wharf, at the foot of Thames Street, flew the 
secession flag from her mizzen-topmast. There were five 
vessels in the immediate neighborhood that at once ran up 
Union flags: these were the "Agnes," " Mondamin," 
" Chase," " Seaman " and " Washington." After a little 




1 1 






Si 

3 



■0 
C 




01 



THE TURN OF THE TIDE. 117 

while the crowd from these vessels boarded the " Fanny 
Crenshaw " and demanded that the flay' be pulled down. 
Upon a refusal they hauled it down themselves. 

An attempt was made to hoist the Confederate flag on 
Federal Mill, and to lire a salute of one hundred guns in 
honor of South Carolina, but the young men who made 
the endeavor were forced to desist, after they had fired 
three or four times, and, at the conclusion of a sharp 
struggle, their piece was taken away from them, the gun- 
carriage broken into fragments, the flag destroyed and 
both gun and ammunition thrown into the basin. The 
neighborhood of Federal Hill was the recruiting ground 
for one of the first companies of Baltimore volunteers that 
*went into the Federal army. The Southern Rights men 
raised a flag at the corner of Monument and Charles 
Streets and tired a salute of one hundred guns. The flag 
remained there on an elevation, where it could be seen by 
all, till the succeeding clay — I do not know but longer. 

Upon receiving news that several companies of Penn- 
sylvania volunteers with one of the United States Regu- 
lars, had been ordered to Washington by way of Balti- 
more, there was a meeting of Southern Rights men, as 
they were called, at which it was decided that these troops 
should s;o unmolested. Aoain we must £jo back in feel- 
ing and thought to those times to fully understand the 
situation. Lincoln had called for volunteers to be used 
against the Confederate states. Maryland, striving to 
adopt a neutrality policy in the main and falling back on 
her sovereign right to refuse admission to Federal troops, 
objected strongly to the march of the volunteers from the 
North across her boundaries. This sentiment is inborn 
in the Marylander, while it is hardly comprehended by the 
New Yorker or New Englander, and, naturally, nowhere 



uS BALTIMORE. 

in the state was it so strongly expressed as in the city of Bal- 
timore. While some citizens were madly cheering for the 
stars and stripes and others erecting the flag of secession, 
many united in strenuous opposition to the disregard of state 
rights by what was construed into an act of invasion. 

While things were at this pitch a train containing three 
or four hundred troops, mostly Pennsylvania volunteers, 
arrived at Bolton depot, accompanied by a few regulars, 
who proceeded at once to Fort McHenry. This detachment 
of volunteers, without uniforms, undisciplined and raw, 
were received warmly, if not graciously, by the crowd which 
rapidly gathered as soon as their arrival was announced. 

There were cheers for Bell and Everett, groans and hisses 
for the Pennsylvania invaders, but nothing more violent 
than this in the way of a demonstration. Marshal Kane and 
his force deserved all credit, for the way in which they 
acted both on this and subsequent occasions, sinking individ- 
ual preferences and doing their duty like men, and very 
active and efficient men too. The volunteers were escorted 
by the mob to Camden station, where they found that the)' 
had missed their train and were obliged to proceed to 
Mount Clare station. 

A report was circulated that Charles Sumner was at 
Barnum's Hotel. There was an instant stampede; the 
crowd surrounded the house and the air rang with groans 
and cheers, but it was finally found that Mr. Sumner was 
not there. 

In the evening of April iSth, a train arrived at Bolton 
depot from Harrisburg, bringing six or seven hundred troops. 
There was one company of the Fourth Artillery, U. S. 
Army, and three companies of Pennsylvania volunteers and 
Logan Guards. The United States troops acted as infantry. 
There was an evident conflict of feeling among the multi- 






THE TURN OF THE I IDE. 119 

tude who, as usual, gathered to witness the arrival. The 
sentiment of animosity to the volunteers was more strongly 
shown than on the previous occasion, but Marshal Kane- 
provided an escort for the newcomers, and did all that he- 
could to preserve the peace and prevent an actual breach. 
The march was through Howard, to Camden, to Eutaw, to 
Pratt Streets, to the Mount Clare depot. The mob took 
to cheering for Jeff. Davis and singing " Way down South 
in Dixie," thus working their feelings to an ungovernable 
pitch, so that when the volunteers were finally in the cars 
it was with the utmost difficulty that acts of violence were 
prevented. At Mount Clare station some stones were 
thrown, there- was a perfect babel of noise and the excited 
people seemed on the verge of a riot. This, however, was 
only a foretaste of wdiat was to follow. Although the pro- 
ceedings had been boisterous and sometimes more than a 
thousand persons assembled and words had been bandied 
freely, yet up to this time no weapons had been drawn. 

A train of thirty-five cars on the Philadelphia, Wilmington 
& Baltimore Railroad arrived at President Street depot on 
the 19th of April and brought about twelve hundred troops 
from Boston and a thousand more of the Pennsylvania 
volunteers. This was done in the face of repeated protest 
on the part of Baltimoreans and warnings from many 
prominent men to the War Department that trouble would 
undoubtedly ensue if the custom of sending the volunteers 
through Baltimore was persisted in. On this occasion 
there was wild excitement among the great concourse of 
men that assembled on Pratt Street. There was less divi- 
sion of sentiment noticeable than at any previous time. 
The expressions of contempt were all for Lincoln and the 
Federals, while the cheers were for Davis and the Confed- 
eracy. 



i2o BALTIMORE. 

The Jones' Falls Bridge was well guarded. The en- 
croaching military were transported in cars past that point. 
Seven cars had passed in safety when the eighth one, full 
of troops, was stoned. The driver of the car, becoming 
alarmed, unhitched his horses, removing them to the other 
end and the car with its load was soon in rapid retreat. 
Then the track was torn up to prevent further passage ; for 
an entire block the way was made impassable by these 
means and to make the obstruction more perfect, two large 
anchors from the docks were brought and placed upon the 
tracks. Added to this several loads of sand were also 
clumped across the street, the crowd evidently intending to 
make their injunction permanent. 

Prevented from using the cars the volunteers began their 
march to Camden station by a more circuitous route. The 
mob, which by this time contained more than twenty thou- 
sand men and was composed largely of the most unruly 
element of the city, upon learning of the new move rushed 
down President Street toward the depot. The police 
again at great personal risk stood between the populace 
and the volunteers. When the latter disembarked to follow 
the line of march of the detachment which had preceded 
them, there were savage threats made. At this juncture a 
Confederate flag was displayed and its appearance was 
greeted with cheers. 

With that sense of humor which an American crowd will 
show even in its most serious moments, those who sur- 
rounded this flag conceived that it would be a fine thing to 
force the Federal volunteers to march behind it, an opinion 
which was not shared by the volunteers ; but turn which- 
ever way they would, marching and countermarching, to 
avoid compliance with the design of their persecutors, the 
Confederate flag headed them off whichever way they 



THE TURN OF THE TIDE. 121 

turned, and finally, amid cheers and laughter, the men of 
Massachusetts were obliged to march for two squares behind 
the flag that they had left home to fight against. 

Several attempts were made by Union men to seize the 
flag, which, however, was well guarded by a band of about 
two hundred people, and on being pressed in turn, these 
Unionists took refuge behind the troops. This was the 
beginning of actual trouble, for in chasing the Union men, 
the mob, either through accident or design, stoned the 
volunteers. The police did all that they could, but they could 
not prevent what ensued. Several soldiers were knocked 
down by stones, and after enduring as long as possible with- 
out striking a blow in return, the whole body of soldiers 
started on a double-quick to escape from their tormentors. 
In doing this several fell and their guns were taken away 
from them, but were afterward retaken by the police. 
While these Massachusetts men were on their march across 
the city, and while the demonstration was only of a threat- 
ening character, Mayor Brown met the troops, introduced 
himself to the officer in command and shook hands with 
him, afterwards marching at his side through the streets, 
striving by the influence of his presence and by his words 
to quiet the excited people. Even after the fracas had 
commenced in earnest he kept his position for some little 
distance, until he found that the exposure was perfectly 
useless. It was a plucky action. 

At Commerce Street, where the pavement had been torn 
up with pickaxes, etc., there was a perfect fusillade of 
stones. Several men were knocked out of the ranks and 
injured. Then for the first time, seeing that it was impos- 
sible to avoid actual fighting, the order was given to the 
volunteers to fire, and several of. the crowd fell. At this, 
the latter gave way and the troops pushed forward at 



122 BALTIMORE. 

double-quick with set bayonets. The mob followed them, 
flanked them and still surrounded them when they arrived 
at Camden station. In this affair there were four soldiers 
killed and many wounded, and about a dozen of the citizens 
were killed. 

Mr. Robert W. Davis, an estimable citizen of Baltimore, 
was returning from out of town after the riot, and not 
knowing- anything about it, made some motion or menace 
toward the cars in which the troops were re-embarked, being 
forwarded to Washington. It has been explained by those 
who witnessed the occurrence that this was done laughingly 
and not with malice, but there being a slight demonstra- 
tion by others at the same time, one of the Massachusetts 
men, heated by the recent fray, took deliberate aim at Mr. 
1 >avis and killed him. When Davis' body was brought to 
the Southern Police Station, his left hand had a kid glove 
on, and the right hand had the glove half on. Neither 
glove was soiled. 

There were other troubles of a less violent character, into 
the details of which it is not necessary to go. 

A carload of arms and ammunition belono-ino- to the 

o o 

Massachusetts troops, left at the Philadelphia depot, were 
taken charge of by the police. After this the railroad 
bridges on the lines of the Northern Central and Philadel- 
phia railroads were destroyed by the police under orders to 
prevent the passage of more troops. This was decided 
upon by the Governor, Mayor and others in authority, 
after they had in vain counselled moderation to the people 
of Baltimore, who were much excited by the foray in which 
so many citizens had been killed, and also by the wrathful 
threats of Northerners as to what they would do with the 
Baltimoreans. The feeling at the North became so bitter 
that many of the newspapers counselled an invasion of the 



THE TURN OF THE TIDE. 123 

city and summary vengeance for the acts of its mob. We 
must explain that this objection to the passing oi Federal 
troops was not confined to secessionists, nor were they 
always the strongest objectors. In some cases the most 
faithful Union adherents opposed it as decidedly. As 
already explained the North did not understand this senti- 
ment in the least, it being foreign to the temper or local 
tradition of any Northern state. There was on both sides 
a total misunderstanding, a misunderstanding which though 
fearful in its results was far from being unnatural. To 
show how very wrong an impression had been created, there 
was in Washington quite a general belief at headquarters 
that the troops in passing through Baltimore were in danger 
from the police. We know how perfectly erroneous this 
view was, but the feeling grew in spite of overwhelming 
testimony to the contrary. The letter of Captain Dike of 
Company C, Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers, to the 
Boston Courier, is explicit on this point. He attests to the 
courage and even heroism of Mayor Brown and speaks 
feelingly of the police, to whom he gives full credit for their 
support. 

Mayor Brown issued a call for contributions of arms for 
the defence of the city. At this time Lincoln gave assur- 
ance that no more troops should pass through Baltimore if 
they might be allowed to pass around it in safety. 

The city was full of rumors. One of these was to the 
effect that F"ort McHenry was to be attacked. There was 
a muster of Baltimore volunteers, but the report was soon 
followed by the assurance from Washington of Lincoln's 
promises. Again there was a false alarm of the approach 
.of Northern troops and a little later a man on horseback 
announced the proximity of five thousand Federal volun- 
teers. They were reported to be at Cockeysville. This 



124 BALTIMORE. 

was on Sunday : the churches were deserted, the alarm 
bells rang, the troops were ordered back to Harrisburg. 
Every preparation was made to give them a warm reception 
if they came to Baltimore. Meanwhile the telegraph was 
busy. George William Brown used his influence with the 
President and was wiring the results of his conference to 
Baltimore. John \Y. Garrett, president of the Baltimore 
& ( >hio Railroad, was also busy telegraphing at intervals 
during that day. Still Mr. Brown counselled calmness. 
Owing to his efforts probably more than to any other cause, 
the order was given for the return of the troops to Harris- 
buro;. 



CHAPTER VII. 




THE WAR-CLOUD. 

HE error, if error it was, of declaring that 
no troops from the North should pass 
through Baltimore and the effort to repel 
such an invasion of Maryland soil, was 
forced upon the local authorities by the 
course events had taken. It is difficult to 
see where a departure could have been 
taken or any other action have been possible. 

But it is no less strikingly true that from its standpoint 
the Federal Government could only regard this refusal at 
such a time as an act of defiance. 

As Baltimore naturally lay on the way to Washington 
for troops coming from the North, and to avoid it would 
have entailed great loss of time and untold inconvenience, 
and, moreover, the safety of the national capital being 
doubly menaced by the chances that Baltimore would 
declare in favor of the South, there was but one course to 
pursue, and that was to put Federal troops in the city. 
Without attempting to discuss the political aspect of the 
case at all, we must recognize this as a military necessity. 



126 BALi'I MORE. 

On the night of the 13th of May, General Benjamin F. 
Butler, with a detachment of Boston Light Artillery, Mas- 
sachusetts Sixth Infantry and five hundred men of the 
Eighth New York, entered the city of Baltimore and took 
possession of Federal Hill. The story of his entrance, as 
told by some of those who endeavored to oppose it, is 
rather interesting. The troops were at the Relay, between 
which point and the city some of those young men whose 
fathers and elders had expostulated in vain with Butler, 
tore up the railroad tracks and took the only two available 
locomotives entirely to pieces, making, as they thought, 
ingress by that way impossible. But they reckoned with- 
out the host of New England mechanics which were so 
valuable, though so often unrecognized a part of the North- 
ern army. No body of men has ever been assembled for 
purposes of war, among whom could be numbered so 
many skilled workmen in all branches of trade as in the 
Federal army during the great Civil War. It happens 
often that the efficiency of an army lies in its ability 
to move and that ability depends upon its own skill in 
repairing and constructing. While those who had endeav- 
ored to protect our city, by making the railway impassable, 
were congratulating themselves upon their success, the 
engines were restored, the track repaired and General But- 
ler in occupation of Federal Hill. He had been assured 
that his entrance into the city would, without question, 
result in bloodshed. On the contrary, there was not a 
single case of disturbance nor any opportunity for an out- 
break. 

The city was immediately put under martial law. The 
principal centres were held by Federal troops. The sus- 
pens : on of the writ of habeas corpus was ordered by the 
Department at Washington, but strongly objected to by 



THE WAR-CLOUD. 127 

Butler, who argued that we were under constitutional gov- 
ernment and asked to be relieved unless this order was 
revoked. 

Great injustice was done to those who had been most 
faithful in the discharge of their duties. Marshal Kane, 
after all his efforts, made at personal and official risk, to 
preserve peace in the city, was arrested, together with the 
Board of Commissioners, whose countenance he had had 
throughout. They were incarcerated in Fort McHenry. 
This was a grave error on the part of the commander and 
not a solitary one in this distressing era of military rule. 
Col. Edward F. Jones, of the Sixth Massachusetts Volun- 
teers, in writing to Police Marshal Kane about tin; soldiers 
who were killed during the passage through Baltimore, 
uses these words: " And thereby add one more to the many 
favors, for which, with my command, I am much indebted to 
you. Many, many thanks for the Christian conduct of the 
authorities of Baltimore in that truly unfortunate affair." 
We cannot but contrast this testimony with the arrest of 
Marshal Kane and his imprisonment in Fort McHenry. 

But much more wise and reassuring was the appointment 
of a new Provost Marshal to take charge of a reorganized 
police force. This was no less a person than the popular 
Colonel Kenly, than whom a better known or more gener- 
ally respected Baltimorean could hardly have been selected. 
We have already seen how Colonel Kenly conducted him- 
self during the Mexican War. His appointment placed 
him in a position which was more embarrassing ami much 
more difficult than any which he had occupied before the 
walls and towers of Monterey or the fortress of the Tierra 
Caliente. 

At the same time the telegraph operators were removed 
and others of Butler's own force substituted, the station- 



i 2 8 BALTIMORE. 

houses and public property were seized and placed in charge 
of Federal guards and the right to hold elections in the city 
was suspended. Of course under these conditions free 
speech was not largely indulged in and those who desired a 
wiser man and wiser measures were obliged to keep silent. 
Among the inciclentstliscussecl at the time was that of the 
seizing of the steamer " St. Nicholas," which left Baltimore 
with fifty passengers on board ; among others Captain 
Hollins of the Federal navy. A Frenchwoman who came 
on board at the last moment and went immediately to her 
stateroom, emerged after the boat had got under way in 
the character of a Zouave, having thrown off the disguise, 
and upon giving a preconcerted signal was immediately 
joined by twenty-five companions who had come on board 
in the character of mechanics. This happened after the 
first landing at the Point had been made. Acting with 
great promptness these men took possession of the steamer, 
made prisoners of the passengers and also of Captain 
Kerwin anil his crew. Most of the passengers were landed 
at Cone Point on the Virginia shore, and there one hundred 
and twenty-five Confederate officers and men were taken on 
board. Captain Kerwin and fourteen of his men were not 
landed, but were held as prisoners. The captors stated 
that their purpose was privateering. At the mouth of the 
Rappahannock River the privateers met three large brigs 
loaded with coffee, ice and coal ; these they captured and 
conveyed into Fredericksburg. The party soon after 
separated and the leader, Thomas, with several others, 
boldly returned to Baltimore, where they were speedily 
discovered and taken in charge by Marshal Kenly. There 
was also a strong effort made to arrest participants in the 
attack which had been made upon the volunteers on April 
19th. 



THE WAR-CLOUD. 129 

Federal Hill was strongly fortified; the plans for the 
work were made under the direction of Colonel Brewerton, 
of the United States Topographical Engineers, who has 
since been somewhat widely known as an artist : Fort 
Marshal, east of Patterson Park ; Fort Worthington, on 
the heights at the northeast of the city and other com- 
manding positions were occupied. 

Never was the city in a more uninviting condition ; its 
parks were turned into camps, its mansions into barracks 
and hospitals, and yet, although it was occupied while the 
war lasted, it soon recovered its elasticity so far that public 
buildings as well as private ones were erected, and the life 
of the people flowed on as far as possible in the old 
channels. 

The ship-yards were not idle during this time ; the United 
States gun-boat " Pinola," of thirteen guns, was built at the 
ship-yard of Abrahams and Ashcraft. She was a vessel of 
five hundred and twenty tens. Other smaller vessels were 
also launched here. 

After the removal of General Butler and while Gen. fohn 
A. I>ix was in command of the city, great excitement 
was caused by the arrest by his order of Mayor Brown and 
seventeen other gentlemen, who were placed in Fort 
McHenry. Why this should have been done remains a 
mystery among the very many mysteries of that troubled 
time. Arrests seemed to lie the order of the day ; several 
newspaper men were also imprisoned and The South, The 
Exchange, The Maryland and other newspapers were 
suppressed. The Maryland was a new sheet which had not 
got far beyond its first numbers when it came to an end. 

I have said that the life of the city did not entirely 
stagnate at this time. The Fourth Presbyterian church 
was dedicated in the presence of a large crowd ; the Balti- 



i 3 o BALTIMORE. 

more City Passenger Railway was incorporated by the 
Assembly and several other indications were given of 
renewed activity. In March, '62, there was an act passed by 
the General Assembly by which seven thousand dollars were 
appropriated for the relief of the families of the killed or 
disabled of the 6th Massachusetts Volunteers. This money 
was awarded to twenty beneficiaries and was paid. 

Marshal Kenly, who no doubt found the difficulties of 
his position unbearable, asked to be relieved and his suc- 
cessor was Marshal Van Nostrand. Colonel Kenly then 
went into active service in the field. On the 25th of May 
the news of General Banks' retreat was rumored in the city 
and it was also reported that Colonel Kenly had been killed. 
A great crowd gathered in front of the newspaper offices, 
and various opinions were expressed ; disputes which took 
on all the violence of political disagreements and bid fair to 
culminate in a riot. By a great many Kenly was spoken of 
as a traitor to his state and city, and satisfaction was 
expressed at the news of his death. This was promptly 
taken up by the opposing party, who marched in a body 
from place to place compelling the display of Union flags. 

General Dix called for Marshal Van Nostrand and said 
that if the police force under his command was not able to 
cope with the difficulty he would call out the military, as he 
would not allow such a disturbance in the city. The police 
let the outrages go by for several days, during which time the 
Unionists, counting on the sympathy of the military author- 
ity, were in the ascendency. To their surprise, however, 
General Dix interfered, arrested the ringleaders and re- 
stored peace. This action made a great furore among the 
Union men. 

After General Wool succeeded to the military command 
of Baltimore there was a large Unionist meeting on Monti- 



THE WAR-CLOUD. 131 

ment Square at which Governor Bradford presided. At 
that meeting a resolution was passed requesting the Presi- 
dent to instruct the general in command of the military 
department at Baltimore to administer an oath to all male 
citizens, by the terms of which each man was to " maintain 
the National sovereignty, paramount to that of all states, 
counties or corporate powers — to forever oppose secession, 
rebellion and the disintegration of the Federal Union." 
This matter in due course of time was presented to General 
Wool, who regarded it in a very practical, common-sense 
way. He said that it did not appear to him wise at such a 
juncture to send twenty thousand more men into the army 
of the South, and nothing further was heard of the resolu- 
tion. 

1 he First National Bank of Baltimore was organized in 
the latter part of '62, and about this time also the Safe 
Deposit Company of Baltimore, the Academy of Music, the 
Franklin and Powhatan Railway Company and the Halls 
Springs and Harford Railway Company were incorporated. 
Most of the papers in the city were stopped from time to 
time, a number of business houses were closed, the clerks 
thrown out of employment and stock to the amount of over 
eight millions of dollars put under military guard, to the 
great loss of the owners. 

We must turn aside for awhile from the condition of 
Baltimore during the military occupancy-to speak of the ca- 
reer and character of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, 
who died in 1864. Chief Justice Taney was born in Cal- 
vert County, Maryland, in 1777. We learn that he was of 
English ancestry. From his earliest life his health was 
never robust, and he had continually to fight against a deli- 
cate constitution and frequent ill health, yet he graduated 
with honors at Dickinson College at the age of eighteen 



132 BALTIMORE. 

years and was admitted to the bar at Annapolis in 1799. 
He removed a few years later to Frederick, where at the 
beginning of this century his popularity was almost 
unequalled. From there he was elected to the State Senate 
in 1 8 16 and six years later, at the expiration of his senato- 
rial labors, removed to Baltimore, which was his home dur- 
ing the remainder of his life. At the age of twenty-seven 
Mr. Taney was appointed Attorney-General of Maryland, 
a rare compliment to be paid to so young a man; indeed the 
rapid recognition given to the powers of this young Mary- 
lander reminds one of the early career of the younger Pitt. 
Later General Jackson nominated Mr. Taney Attorney- 
General of the United States and in 1833, Secretary of the 
Treasury, but the Senate refused to approve this latter 
nomination because of opposing political sentiments. Again, 
two years later, the same refusal by the Senate to confirm 
was made, when the President again nominated Mr. Taney 
for the vacant Associate Justiceship of the Supreme Court, 
but upon the death of the great Marshall the nomination of 
the Marylander to succeed him was again made by Jackson, 
and this time was confirmed by the Senate, whose political 
complexion had undergone somewhat of a change during the 
interval. To this highest office to which an American law- 
yer can aspire Mr. Taney took the oath of office in 1837. 
He was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States. 

Although physically frail, few men have possessed greater 
personal attractiveness. He was in every way a leader, a 
man of keen thought, fluent language and in both his judg- 
ment and his dealings known to be wise and just. 

The death of Chief Justice Taney had a deep impression 
upon his fellow-citizens, but occurring at the time that it 
did, when the interest inspired by the national struggle was 
at its height, men turned quickly to the all-engrossing topic. 




Chief Justice Taney. 



THE WAR-CLOUD. 133 

In 1865, on April 6th, the Unionists had their day. The 
news of the fall of Richmond was the cause of great display 
of bunting, illuminations and fireworks, a clamor of 'guns 
and bells, and general acclamation. 

There was but one voice, one note heard. Those who 
could not sing to the same tune kept in retirement. 

Following the close of the war very closely, while all the 
people were looking forward to a return of the benefits of 
peace, the news of Mr. Lincoln's death came to shock and 
surprise those of both parties. The absurd charge of a 
conspiracy, of which Wilkes Booth was only the tool, was 
for a time believed in other sections of the country, but has 
long ago been disproven. The character of the assassin, 
his training, his parentage, and all that went to make up 
the man must be taken into account. His ideal, implanted 
and fostered by his father, was Brutus. Upon the stage 
he had frequently not only seen but impersonated the 
character of the patriotic Roman, and a chance remark 
made upon the afternoon of the very day that Lincoln 
was killed probably gave direction to his thought and act. 
A friend meeting Booth, who was then somewhat excited 
by drink, was asked by him why some one had not removed 
Mr. Lincoln, and this friend jokingly replied, "There is no 
Brutus nowadays." Upon this clue I have no doubt that 
the son of Junius Brutus Booth acted. 

Faction was forgotten in the general distress which fol- 
lowed the reception of this news. On the 21st of April 
the President's body lay in state in the rotunda of the Ex- 
change, and every expression of respect and grief was 
given. 

The story of the war time would be incomplete without a 
reference to the brave men who served on each side in the 
armies of America in defence of their principles. Already 



i 34 BALTIMORE. 

something has been said of the career of Brevet Major- 
General John R. Kenly. We have followed his exploits in 
the Mexican war and his efforts at that time to raise re- 
cruits for the service. We have seen how his services were 
appreciated and his popularity increased as the evidences of 
his energy and character were shown. 

On the arrest of Marshal Kane, Colonel Kenly was made 
Provost Marshal, resigning from that difficult position as 
soon as he could do so with honor. Being relieved at his 
<>\vn request, as before stated, he joined the army at the 
front. After the report of his death in May, '62, he con- 
tinued in active service until in the latter part of that year 
he was appointed by Governor Bradford to command a 
brigade for the protection of Baltimore. 

The First Maryland Volunteers were recruited and Col- 
onel Kenly was appointed to command them by President 
Lincoln. The First, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Reg- 
iments of Maryland Volunteers, with Captain Alexander's 
battery of Baltimore Light Artillery, were soon afterwards 
placed under his command. Their record is a matter of 
history. Kenly was made Brigadier-General on the 22d of 
August, '62, for gallant conduct at the battle of Front Royal. 
( )n the consolidation of the Federal army of the Potomac 
into three corps instead of five he was assigned to the com- 
mand of a military district in the middle department. His 
parting from the troops that he had led in active service 
was the occasion of farewell addresses and expressions of 
great esteem on both sides. 

In September, '71, the Mayor and the Council of Balti- 
more presented General Kenly with a sword and belt in 
recognition of his services. 

While the regiments already mentioned were winning 
honor on one side, the gallantry of those bodies of Maryland 



THE WAR-CLOUD. 135 

Volunteers that served under the flag of the Confederacy 
was no less noteworthy. Both individuals and companies 
won from their commanders repeated praise for their devo- 
tion and daring. The First Maryland Regiment ( Confeder- 
ate) belonged to Kirby Smith's division of Elzey's brigade. 
Among other deeds of valor this regiment won special 
notice by checking a flanking movement of the Federal 
forces at Alexandria. The account of General Kenly's ca- 
reer suggests that of his former brother in arms in Mexico, 
General Steuart. Since the beginning of the century this 
name has been a prominent one in Baltimore annals. The 
elder George H. Steuart was prominent in the service of 
his country and state in the beginning of the century. He 
was one of the committee of welcome to General Lafayette, 
was prominent in political affairs and an important member 
of several commercial companies. He died at the age of 
seventy-seven years. The younger man was worthy of his 
inheritance. 

We find the name of Lieutenant-Colonel Steuart men- 
tioned in the general orders of his commander, Joseph E. 
Johnson, " For the faithful and exact manner in which his 
command (the First Maryland Regiment) carried out their 
orders at Harper's Ferry." Then follows a compliment 
which the heart of a soldier can best understand: " Thesol- 
dierly qualities of the Maryland regiments will not be for- 
gotten in the day of action." 

At Manassas the First Maryland had the right of line 
under command of General Steuart. The magnificent 
charge they made there excited the admiration of all who 
saw it and won for the brigade before they left the field, the 
personal praise of Jefferson Davis. 

At Winchester General Steuart commanded a brigade to 
which the Maryland Battalion was attached. General 



THE WAR-CLOUD. 137 

of very great strength. Like Federal Hill, it mounted 
a number of heavy guns and occupied a commanding 
position. Later by a year or two than thiV^vork, Fort 
YVorthington was built on the heights to the northeast 
of the city, and beyond the Maryland Hospital. Its neces- 
sity for being was justly estimated after one or two pro- 
jected raids by the forces on the opposing side alarmed 
the authorities in charge into seeing that from those hills 
a successful attack might at almost any time be made. As 
has been said, " The key to Baltimore lay in the heights to 
the northeast of the city, an invading column being sure 
to attack by way of the Belair road and others in its 
vicinity." 

Then, too, there were several works that were of minor 
importance, and were simply numbered. The first was on 
General George H. Steuart's estate, at the head of Balti- 
more Street. No sadder sight for those who strenuously 
objected to Federal occupancy of the city, could be seen 
than that which attended the confiscation of property. In 
the case of the Steuart estate, the beautiful grounds in 
which he had taken so much pride were converted, or 
perverted, into a camp and infirmary. His house was 
known as the Jarvis Hospital, and all over his broad 
acres the grass was trodden and the foliage destroyed. A 
fort, No. 1, overlooked this ruined home, and from there 
in an almost complete semicircle, enclosing Baltimore, 
these extensive earthworks reached. The one known as ■ 
No. 5, was just within the enclosure of Druid Hill Park, 
but within a very few years the Park Commissioners, as 
shown in their report, caused it to be removed, while at 
the same time carefully preserving from destruction the 
noble trees which have grown since that day of military 
rule. 



, 3 8 BALTIMORE. 

No. 4 stood where Gilmor Street and the Liverty road 
intersect. No. 7 was near the Mount Royal reservoir, but 
its guns were never mounted. 

Besides these works, the Federal government held a 
strono- o-arrison at Fort McHenry, where from time to time 
prisoners from the city and government were confined. 



CHAPTER VIII. 




AFTER THE STORM. 

HK passing of the war-cloud did not find 
the city by any means in a condition of 
calm serenity. It bore the aspect of a 
field over which a tornado had passed. 
People were nervous and apprehensive 
even while feeling the relief from the 
strain of constant anxiety. The storm 
had blown itself out, but the debris still obstructed the 
stream of political life ; the channels of trade were choked, 
and only time could restore the social equilibrium. 

No city in the Union had been so divided against itself. 
We know that political dissensions are only excelled by re- 
ligious differences in the power to produce discord among 
men, and Baltimore was in a position to fully illustrate the 
truth of this. 

In 1864 the Maryland Legislature passed a Registration 
Act which provided for the appointment of three men in 
each ward to act as registration officers. These officers 
were chosen by the governor. Their duty was " to regis- 
ter all free white male persons," and the restrictions imposed 



i 4 o BALTIMORE. 

by the law were such that upon this apparently broad basis 
not more than one quarter of the voting population of the 
city could exercise the right of elective franchise. 

At the election for congressmen, state senator and a por- 
tion of the local ticket, which was the first time that the 
new law was in operation, the total vote polled was only a 
little over five thousand. The Republican ticket won. 

In the following year a number of gentlemen met to dis- 
cuss the advisability or feasibility of holding a city and 
state convention to advocate the repeal of this registration 
law. The convention was held and delegates were sent 
to it from Baltimore and the various counties of Maryland. 
and resolutions were adopted and an address prepared in 
which the people of Maryland were addressed on the sub- 
ject of their grievances. A committee was appointed to 
present the resolutions of the convention to the General 
Assembly then in session at Annapolis. Many signatures 
were also secured to the Memorial, the number reaching 
over one thousand names. 

The General Assembly in reply to the petition stated 
that " Neither the temper nor the conduct of the people of 
this state who have been hostile to the Government, nor the 
condition of our national affairs nor the provisions of the 
constitution of the state warrant any interference with the 
registry law and that it ought to be rigorously enforced." 

The ultra wing of the Unconditional Union party met in 
convention and endorsed the action of the Assembly. 

On November 2d, 1866, a message was sent from Presi- 
dent Johnson to Secretary of War Stanton, in which atten- 
tion was called to the dangerous condition of Maryland, 
and a suggestion that General Grant's attention be called 
to the matter and that he should be left to act upon his 
own discretion. 



AFTER THE STORM. 141 

The cause of this letter was the signing of a memorial 
by four thousand citizens, protesting against the continu- 
ance in office of the new commissioners of registration 
who they charged had, in violation of law and good faith, 
chosen two hundred and forty of their own political faith 
and also that the board had given orders to the police jus- 
tices not to hear or decide any cases on election day and to 
release any prisoners arrested during that day. Governor 
Swan notified the commissioners that he would take up 
their case on a particular day and they denied his right to 
do so. The affair grew in magnitude as election day ap- 
proached till the resort to arms was threatened and it 
seemed probable to the timorous that other states would 
take a hand in the general disturbance. That was what 
called forth President Johnson's letter to the Secretary of 
War and brought General Grant and General Canby to 
Washington. 

Messrs. Woods and Hindes, police commissioners, were 
then relieved by Governor Swan, and Messrs Valiant and 
"\ oung appointed in their place. But the deposed board 
had their successors, with William Thompson, sheriff, who 
assisted them, arrested and brought before Judge Bond, 
who not only bound them over to keep the peace, but who 
also exacted the promise that they should not again per- 
form the duties of their office. They were charged with in- 
citing riots in the city. Again Baltimore was on the edge 
of a riot. General Grant occupied a most unenviable posi- 
tion. The crowd surged around his headquarters and 
there was every promise of trouble, but fortunately nothing 
further resulted. 

The counsel of the imprisoned commissioners got them 
released on a writ of habeas corpus from fudge James A. 
Bartol of the Court of Appeals. Messrs. Hindes and 



i 4 2 BALTIMORE. 

Woods mustered about three thousand five hundred regu- 
lar and special police, with which force they succeeded in 
(>uardinL r their offices and persons until after election. The 
writ issued by Judge Bartol either was not presented or was 
not obeyed, for the new commissioners were not released 
till after election. 

We cannot attempt to follow all the various changes and 
vicissitudes to which the political parties were alternately 
subject. Just as in a pool of water wave follows wave 
when a stone is thrown into it, so disturbance succeeded 
disturbance and one trouble came after another before the 
political pond became placid once more. I say placid, and 
yet has there ever been a time when it has been stagnant ? 
There is always a ripple upon its bosom. 

A new constitution for Maryland was asked for and Con- 
gress was petitioned to assist the people of the state in 
framing it. At the same time a petition was filed in the 
Superior Court to restrain the people from holding an 
election to decide whether the constitutional convention 
should be held. 

But the election was held and the majority of the people 
in the city and state were in favor of holding a convention 
which finally met and by a majority of over twenty-four 
thousand decided to adopt a new constitution, which was 
therefore framed and adopted and the first election held 
under it in October, 1867. At this election there were 
chosen a judge of the Court of Appeals, five justices of 
the Supreme Bench of Baltimore and a mayor and city 
council. The Democratic candidate for mayor, Mr. R. T. 
Banks, was elected. At the subsequent election for state 
officers, Owden Bowie, the Democratic candidate, was 
elected Governor of Maryland. In local as well as state 
elections there were at first Independents and Labor-green- 



AFTER THE STORM. 143 

backers besides the Democrats and Republicans, but after 
awhile the voters narrowed down to the two old parties with 
the Democrats generally in the ascendant. 

The police force, which was reorganized in '60 and dis- 
charged upon the appointment of Provost Marshal Kenly, 
had hardly time to prove its efficiency, and yet in that short 
period it succeeded in leaving a favorable record. In '67 
another reconstruction occurred and the force as then or- 
ganized is that which still guards the city. Under the new 
law there were three commissioners appointed who should 
hold office for four years and until their successors were 
qualified to take their places. The law fixed the salary of 
each commissioner at twenty-five hundred dollars per an- 
num and required bonds to the amount of ten thousand 
dollars. These commissioners were empowered to appoint 
or remove any police officer on the force under certain con- 
ditions and restrictions. The organization of the Board 
consists of a president and treasurer and all vacancies 
must be filled either by the General Assembly or by the 
governor of the state. The clerk of the Board is required 
also to give bonds. Their duties and powers are to watch 
over the peace of the city, preserve order on ordinary and 
extraordinary occasions, supervise highways and waterways, 
see that laws are enforced, etc. In addition to this the 
Board is authorized to enroll and employ a police force, to 
arm and equip them and whenever necessary to engage ex- 
tra men to act with them. The police force at the present 
day consists of a marshal, deputy-marshal, one captain, two 
lieutenants, and such number of sergeants as the Board may 
deem necessary, and two turnkeys for each district, with six 
hundred and fifty-five regular men, besides specials. I have 
shown in other chapters how valuable and indeed indispen- 
sable these specials have sometimes been in the case of riots. 



U4 



BALTIMORE. 



The regular force is appointed for four years on good 
behavior. The characteristics necessary to an appoint- 
ment as police officer are intelligence, bravery, physical 
strength, good character and a good record. 

The Police Board were empowered to assign justices of 
the peace for station-houses. The Legislature of 1876 
changed the law which had existed prior to that date, and 
authorized the Governor to appoint magistrates for station- 
houses. Such police magistrates do not act in civil cases. 
The arrangement made for the financial basis upon which 
the Police Department is run is as follows: The Board 
estimates the necessary expenses of the department for a 
year in advance, and submits a certified report to the Mayor 
and City Council, whose duty it is under the law to assess 
and levy the amount necessary to cover the estimate with- 
out delay. This arrangement was made upon the principle 
that it will not do in any case to allow any delay in 
appropriation to stop the work of the force, which is so 
necessary to the safety of the city. In order to make this 
even more certain, a further safeguard is provided in a 
clause which allows for an alternative in case the appropri- 
ation is not immediately paid. It is required under such 
circumstances that the Board issue certificates of indebted- 
ness in the name of the Mayor and Council, which shall 
cover the amount -of the requisition. These certificates 
bear six per cent, interest annually, and are receivable at 
par in payment of city taxes. This clause is binding on 
the corporation, and the interest of the certificates is as 
recoverable as though they were issued by the Mayor and 
Council of Baltimore. 

The Police Board can call upon the Sheriff of the city to 
act under its control in his official capacity for the preser- 
vation of the peace, and at their order he is obliged to 



AFTER THE STORM. 145 

summon posse to aid him, and can even call out the mili- 
tary by the same authority. It is a misdemeanor in any 
case to refuse compliance with the provisions of this act. 
All vacancies in the police force, with the exception of the 
Marshal and Deputy-Marshal, must be filled from the next 
lowest grade when competent men can be found. The 
details of uniform, discipline, relief, etc., are left to the 
discretion of the board. The Mayor has no authority or 
control whatever over the Board or force, which makes the 
police organization of the city at present very different 
from that which existed before the war. 



CHAPTER IX. 



CHARITY AND REORGANIZATION. 




N 1866 one of those philanthropic enter- 
prises which have always appealed so 
strongly to the people, especially the 
gentler sex of Maryland, was started 
and carried through in a style that 
made it forever unique and unap- 
proachable. I refer to the great fair 
for the relief of the Southern sufferers 
by the Civil War. 
Both North and South felt greatly the effects of that long 
and terrible period, but to the South the conflict had 
especially brought home its devastating effect, for not only 
had the defenders and the bread-winners fallen on the 
battle-fields and in hospitals and prisons, but thousands of 
houses had been swept away, thousands of families had been 
left utterly destitute. Everything was needed — food, cloth- 
ing, shelter. There not only was nothing left of the 
property which had existed before, but there was no way of 
repairing the dreadful loss. Business was at a standstill ; 
women unused to labor were penniless, and children, unpro- 
tected, in want. 



CHARITY AND REORGANIZATION. 147 

I need not dwell upon the details of that sad picture. 
It has been often described and at the time when it was a 
present fact the destitution which prevailed could not but 
rouse the sympathy and stimulate the desire to help which 
animated every human heart. 

Naturally from its geographical situation, as well as from 
its social relations with the South, Baltimore was the city 
where the feeling of sympathy and pity found its first and 
most practical expression. 

The great Southern relief fair, preparations for which 
were begun early in the year, was held in April and was 
conducted by ladies who were well known as leaders in the 
social world. Their names alone were a guarantee of the 
character and success of the proposed enterprise. 

Mrs. Benjamin Howard was the President of the asso- 
ciation which organized for this work. The Vice-Presidents 
were Mrs. Charles Howard, Mrs. J. Hanson Thomas, Mrs. 
W. Prescott Smith, Mrs. J. J. Bankard and Mrs. J. S. 
Citrines. Mrs. Pevton Harris was Treasurer and Miss brick 
Secretary. Miss Dora Howard ami a committee of twenty 
other prominent ladies constituted the executive committee 
and besides these there were two hundred lady managers 
and a number of gentlemen "auxiliaries." 

On April 2d, which was a Saturday, the Maryland 
Institute Hall was taken possession of by the ladies and 
preparations begun for the fair. A sound of construction, 
as though an army of workers were engaged in building, 
decorating and arranging, was soon heard. The interior 
of the hall was changed in appearance, tables and booths 
being built and decorated and everywhere a grand display 
of color and light, to which was added the perfume of 
flowers and the bright presence of the ladies who worked as 
only women can who are heart and soul with the accomplish- 
ment of the matter in hand. 



[48 BALTIMORE. 

Soon gifts of various kinds, from presents of money to 
donations of goods, began to come in from all over the 
country. California aided, sending her contribution in good 
season. New York showed a proper and generous spirit. 
From Brooklyn came a pound cake, made by some ladies 
there, which was estimated to be worth five hundred dollars. 
Publishers from all over the country followed the example 
set by Harper Bros, in sending books. One Baltimore 
merchant donated a handsome piano and other generous 
competitors followed suit. A classification of the presents 
made would be almost impossible, since they included 
almost everything ever made or designed by man or devel- 
oped by nature. Furniture, jewelry, a very handsome pier 
glass, a well-fatted steer, a valuable mule, barrels of flour, 
mowing and reaping machines, wax works, flowers and in 
fact almost every imaginable article for use or beauty was to 
be seen when the fair opened. 

In spite of the inclement weather, which was unfortu- 
nately suffered at the beginning, the attendance was very 
large from the first. A bevy of beauty and fashion such as 
few occasions could call together, even in Baltimore, en- 
livened the hall. Bright women flitted here and there ; 
beautiful dresses, gay smiles and animated voices made the 
fair attractive, apart from either its object or the valuable 
and curious articles which loaded the tables or were ar- 
rayed in tempting display upon the walls. 

The " Blue's " band, led by Professor Holland, was in 
attendance, adding its attractions to those already hinted at. 

I have said that the objects of art or of utility were ar- 
ranged upon the tables or on the walls. Let me correct 
that statement by saying that many of the donations were 
of such a character that neither tables nor walls could 
have accommodated them. For instance, beside the pianos 



CHARITY AND REORGANIZATION. 149 

already spoken of, the Harford County ladies offered for 
sale a splendid pair of gray horses which were raffled for. 
Things intended for use were abundant, and he who came 
simply as a spectator remained to buy, for who could resist 
the influences of Baltimore's brightest women ? 

Among other objects of interest was a richly carved ivory 
crucifix loaned for exhibition by Mrs. General Tyson. 
This carving has been considered one of the most curious 
and artistic things of its kind in the world, and the story ol 
its making, as told in a pamphlet which accompanied it, was 
interesting. 

It seems that a Genoese monk, Pesenti by name, con- 
ceived the idea of doing some great work. He had carved 
some little in wood, but was by no means a remarkable 
artist, when the idea came to him to produce something 
which should be worth his effort and thought. Being of a 
very devout frame of mind Pesenti's inspiration took the 
form of a vision, in which he saw the body of Christ upon 
the cross, and something stirred him to try to copy that. 
Waking or sleeping he affirmed that the vision stayed with 
him, and his hands in carving the ivory only followed the 
lines and forms that he constantly saw with the eye of his 
imagination. Thus praying and working by turns, but 
never forgetting his ideal, the sculptor carved patiently 
away on his hard white block till he had completed the like- 
ness he sought. 

Then some of those who saw it brought it to the atten- 
tion of artists and art critics, with the result that it was ex- 
hibited at the Academy of Fine Arts at Genoa and was there 
the object of admiration and wonder. At the King's re- 
quest it was then sent to the palace for his inspection, and 
wherever it went it was hailed with delight by the pious 
peasant or the accomplished connoisseur. 



, 5 o BALTIMORE. 

A former American Consul at Genoa, Mr. C. Edwards 
Lester, purchased the crucifix, which afterwards he brought 
home to the United States. Its appearance at the fair 
caused oreat interest. 

Day after day the money rolled in and the goods rolled 
out. Saddles and china, Colonial relics and confectionery, 
furniture and live stock added to the already handsome 
amounts which were footed up every evening, till at last 
the orrand total of $164,569 was announced as the result of 
the self-sacrificing devotion and labor of those who did not 
foro-et, amid their own surroundings of comfort and luxury, 
that others, less fortunate, were suffering for the necessa- 
ries of life. While relief was thus being afforded to suf- 
ferers at a distance there was much changeable work needed 
nearer home. The winter after I was appointed Captain of 
the Southern District was a very long and cold one. A 
great many cases of suffering and destitution were brought to 
our notice, to relieve the more worthy of which I suggested 
to the men under my charge that a collection be taken up 
among ourselves. The response was prompt and generous, 
so that within a few days quite a sum of money had been 
put in my hands for the poor. As a next step the men 
were requested to report any cases of deserving charity 
which should come under their notice. When these were 
reported I sent one of the sergeants to inquire into the case 
and to procure what he thought would be needed for the 
comfort of the sufferers. Before long the coal dealers, 
butchers, grocery-men and others from whom we purchased 
our supplies learned what we were doing and were liberal 
with donations of provisions, fuel and clothing, all of which 
we turned to good account. 

This system of charity has been kept up from that time 
to this. I have been encouraged in it by the citizens of 



CHARITY AND REORGANIZATION. 151 

Baltimore, who for the last quarter of a century have con- 
tributed sums which will reach an annual average of five 
thousand dollars. I believe we have reached more cases of 
deserving poverty and relieved more real destitution than 
any other charitable agency in the city, and the system 
works without friction. 

Since the reorganization of the police force in 1S67 it has 
been a custom to care for sick and disabled members, and 
this work was made permanent by a statutory enactment 
only a few years ago. The first voluntary police beneficial 
association, or the forerunner of it, was started in the South- 
ern District more than twenty years ago. The men who 
were then under my command agreed between themselves 
to submit to an assessment of fifty cents each to defray the 
expenses of the funeral of the wife of an officer or one dol- 
lar to the widow of an officer in the event of his death. 
The Police Beneficial Association of Baltimore, which in- 
cluded the whole force, grew out of that earlier attempt. 
Wo had made an experiment which had proved so success- 
ful that it long ago became part and parcel of the working 
of the force. It was purely a life insurance plan and all ol 
those connected in any way with the Police Department ex- 
cept the matrons are eligible lor membership. In event 
of the death of a member the resident according to our 
rule was to notify the members of the executive committee 
in his district to collect the required sum from each member 
and pay it in as required by the rules. There was also a 
clause inserted in the agreement by which the members 
pledged themselves to pay the assessment of any retired 
member who was unable to do so for himself, but any officer 
who was discharged or who resigned from the force at once 
ceased to become a member of the organization. The 
amount paid on the death of a member amounts to upward 



i5 2 



BALTIMORE. 



of eight hundred dollars, and in connection with this fund 
there is no expense, so that the beneficiary receives the full 
amount of his insurance. 

The Board of Police is authorized under the law to pay 
a pension to retired officers. The second section of the 
statute reads thus : " In addition to the sums of money now 
authorized to be paid out of the fund as above constituted 
and designated (that is special fund) the Board of Police 
Commissioners are hereby empowered whenever in their 
opinion the efficiency of the force may require it, to retire 
any officer of police, policeman or detective and pay him in 
monthly instalments out of said fund for life a sum of 
money not to exceed one-third of the amount of money 
monthly paid to him as such officer of police, policeman 
or detective at retirement, provided however he shall have 
served faithfully not less than sixteen years or shall have 
been permanently disabled in the discharge of his duties," etc. 

On April 23d, 1867, at twelve o'clock the new appointees 
of the police force were ordered to report at the office of the 
Board of Police Commissioners. The new Marshal was 
Colonel Farlow, who was a citizen of the eastern side of 
the city, well known politically and socially. His military 
title was due to his connection with the Eagle Artillerists, 
of which organization he was for a long time the command- 
ing officer, and whose excellent form was owing largely to 
his proficiency as a commander. He had also been a re- 
spected member of the City Council. Deputy-Marshal 
John' T. Gray, who became Marshal at a later day, was 
Captain of the Central Police District, under the original 
metropolitan police bill. Among the list of Captains was 
the name of Jacob Frey, whose appointment had been a sur- 
prise to him, inasmuch as he had never had any knowlege of 
police work or any leaning in that direction. 



CHARITY AND REORGANIZATION. 153 

The business which I had established after leaving Mr. 
Stewart at the expiration of my apprenticeship had pros- 
pered so that I did not feel inclined to abandon it for tin- 
untried glory of a blue coat and shoulder-straps. I knew 
the Southern District moreover, and I was confident that if 
there was credit to be gained, there was also difficult work 
cut out for the man who should undertake to command it. 
A life of some years in the district could not but teach one 
how to criticise, if nothing else, and theories are easily 
formed. It is altogether probable that I had more theories 
twenty-five years ago than I have to-day. 

The way in which I came to receive the appointment to 
the Southern District was peculiar. After the war closed, 
when the Democrats trot rid of the old Police Commissioners 
they appointed a new Police Board consisting of Messrs. 
J arret, Fussellbaugh and Carr, who organized the present 
police force. Benjamin F. Kenney, Captain of the Eastern 
District, John Mitchell of the Central District and William 
Cassell of the Western District had all seen police service. 
I was the only one who was entirely new to the work. I 
had taken an active part in the organization of the force and 
had with others recommended several men who we thought 
would make good Police Captains. Isaiah Gardner was my 
first choice, and some other citizens of South Baltimore 
wanted Frederick Boyd. These men, who had both been 
Captains of police, were in contest for the position up to 
within two weeks of the time the appointments were to be 
made, when the board notified us that neither of them would 
be appointed and we should nominate somebody else. 
None that we could think of seemed to meet the require- 
ments and the matter was not settled when two days before 
the appointments were to be made Mr. John W. Davis came 
to me, and after speaking of the dilemma that the Board 



154 



BALTIMORE. 



was in said that my name had been brought up as that of a 
suitable nominee. My answer was prompt; I told Mr. 
Davis that while I appreciated the confidence shown me I 
had no idea of going- into police work nor did I wish to do 
so. While my business was new I felt confident that the 
outlook was a good one and that it would not pay me to 
abandon it. My visitor asked me to think it over until the' 
next day, and although I told him that I had no intention 
of taking it he insisted on not accepting my refusal as final. 
The next day he returned, saying that the Board had named 
the officers of the force and that they wished me to take 
the position until they could select some one else. This 
at last I consented to do, but not until late upon the even- 
ing of the last day before the appointments were made. I 
was then instructed how an application should be written, 
and having: submitted it felt very much dissatisfied with the 
step I had taken. I did not feel less so when I saw in the 
paper the next morning the names of the newly-appointed 
officers published. 

I cannot pretend that there were no objections to my 
being made Captain. There was one man, John Marshall 
by name, who with his friends were quite disgusted, since he 
himself had been working for the position. It was said by 
them so that it afterwards came to my hearing that I knew 
nothing about the work, was not fit for the place and that 
the boys would walk away with me. I made up my mind 
then and there that if there was any walking to be done, it 
should be by somebody else. I intended to do the very 
best that I could. I did not know the ropes but I was more 
than willing to find out all that I could that would aid me 
in the discharge of my new duties. Several of the men in 
my command were old policemen who had been in the ser- 
vice previous to the reorganization of the force. There 



CHARITY AND REORGANIZATION. 155 

was an evident impression on the part of several of these 
officers that they were a good deal wiser in regard to police 
work than their Captain was. and very likely they were cor- 
rect, but I did not propose to let them think so in a way 
that would interfere at all with the discipline which I in- 
tended to enforce. I knew that there would be disinclina- 
tion shown to obey orders promptly and so was ready to 
seize the first opportunity to nip any such insubordination 
in the bud. On the first Sunday morning after I had taken 
charge the ringleader of this opposition, if I may call it so, 
failed to respond promptly to the roll call, coming in five 
minutes late. Calling to him I inquired what had delayed 
him. " Well," he replied, " I was reading the paper and 
did not think of the time." I explained to him that the 
roll was called at six o'clock and that I expected him here- 
after to be at his post on the minute. I think he under- 
stood that I would allow no trirling and there was no repe- 
tition of this sort of annoyance. A short time after the new 
force had gotten to work Baltimore was very much stirred 
up over the question which at that time was agitating the 
whole country. I mean the impeachment trial of President 
Johnson. The people were excited, as they often are at 
such times, and we had a good deal of trouble with them 
and especially with the negroes, but we let them understand 
that while they must behave themselves we would treat 
them fairly and that all classes of the community should 
be protected. Colored military companies paraded the 
streets nearly every night, getting constantly more and 
more unruly and requiring more constant care on our part 
to prevent the perpetration of mischief. At first they were 
content to carry their guns in a peaceable manner, but after 
awhile they took to discharging fire-arms in the streets and 
at the same time showed a disposition to be ugly. One 



i;6 BALTIMORE. 

evening a number of them commanded by Colonel Young 
were parading in my district and 1 went out and halted 
them on Hill Street. I requested that they be drawn up 
in lines as I wanted to talk with them, and the Colonel- did 
as I wished. I told them they were causing more excite- 
ment than seemed to be necessary, that the police were the 
protectors of the city and they did not need to march 
around the streets with loaded guns, and then I said that as 
I was the commanding- officer of that district I should in- 
spect their arms to see if they had loads in them, and that 
I should take away any which were loaded. The Colonel 
assisting me I inspected every man's musket, trying it with 
the ramrod and taking all that were loaded, and by the time 
1 had finished a furniture wagon which I had sent for was 
full of the confiscated arms, which I sent to the police-sta- 
tion. In another part of the city another South Baltimore 
company were parading, when in the course of a disturb- 
ance some people were killed, upon which the Police Board 
issued an order prohibiting any parade with fire-arms except 
by the military or the police. After the failure of the im- 
peachment of Mr. Johnson the excitement of course quieted 
down. 

Although I did not accept the appointment without per- 
suasion, yet upon taking hold of the Southern District 1 
made every other interest subservient to that. My business 
I placed in the hands of a subordinate, who was to manage 
it and account to me for the proceeds. Of the practical 
working of this plan I have a few words to say : The more 
attention I paid to my police duties the faster I found my 
business went to ruin. I did not feel that I could afford to 
lose that income entirely, as the pay of a Police Captain 
would not suffice to support my family in the way that I 
thought they had a right to demand. After thinking the 



CHARITY AND REORGANIZATION. 157 

matter over very carefully I called on the Police Board and 
reminding- them of the fact that I had only promised to 
serve until some one else was found to fill my place, I 
begged that they would select that new man as soon as 
possible. Mr. Jarrett was very anxious to have me hold on. 
He said that something would come up in a little while, he 
would not then say what, but that they would be in a posi- 
tion to do better for me if I would stay. In reply I told 
him that my business was rapidly going to ruin and that I 
must resign. Then I was told that as soon as the Lcds- 

o 

ture met there would be a change Mr. Davis explained to 
me in confidence that the Board of Police had determined 
to appoint a new Marshal. He said 'that they appreciated 
Colonel Farlow's good qualities, but that he was not suffi- 
ciently active for the head of that department ; that they 
proposed to use their influence to have him appointed 
magistrate, and if they succeeded in doing so Mr. Gray 
would then succeed to the vacant office and I should have 
his. Acting upon this information, I sold out my business, 
resolving to cast my lot with the Police Department, and as 
soon as the arrangements of the Board were completed I 
received the appointment of Deputy Marshal as Mr. Davis 
had promised; a position in which I served for fifteen years 
and a half. It did not take me long to become accus- 
tomed to the work, which I soon began to like very much 
and had no thought of changing for anything else. 

This same year saw the first running of city railway cars 
on Sunday. The Madison Avenue line and the Gay Street 
line especially were crowded with people, and a great many 
hailed this as a decided advantage and convenience to the 
city, but others objected strongly. Early in May a number 
of citizens presented a petition protesting against the 
running of these cars and praying for an injunction to stop 



15S BALTIMORE. 

them. The Sabbath Association of Baltimore was the 
prime mover in this effort. Mayor Chapman endorsed the 
petition with the hope " that their application may meet 
with a favorable response from the City Council." 

Among the very many schemes which were gotten up at 
this period to work upon the sympathies of charitable peo- 
ple was one which was largely advertised and by which a 
great many were victimized. This was a so-called Gift 
Concert in aid of Southern orphans. It was held in Con- 
cordia Hall, on Eutaw Street, in June, '67. A lady of some 
apparent means was the President of the Association that 
engineered this scheme, and the other officers inspired suffi- 
cient confidence to induce the sale' of a very large number 
of tickets. 

The gift part of the affair was of course that in which 
the people were interested ; the music was decidedly a 
secondary consideration, for which few would have gone 
far. But, oh, the tempting bait that was held out to ticket 
buyers in the way of prizes ! — a thirty thousand dollar farm, 
for which two or three thousand and a mortoaoe had been 
paid; a gift often thousand dollars in gold and another farm 
of the same value as this largest cash gift, which it appeared 
only existed on paper; the numberless gold watches, pianos, 
horses and carriages and other valuable personal property 
might easily turn the brains of the unwary. 

When the drawing took place, the police force was 
represented by the Deputy-Marshal, Sergeant and ten men, 
and a force of detectives. These were to prevent the 
activity of pick-pockets and other enemies of law and order 
among the audience. But they did not regard the pro- 
moters of this scheme as people requiring special surveil- 
lance — why should they ? Could the people who had so 
generously offered to give away farms and property be 




3 

£ 



CHARITY AND REORGANIZATION. 159 

capable of an ungenerous thought ? Even when a legal 
gentleman got up and explained to the audience that owing 
to certain legal questions which had arisen the drawing 
would be postponed for a week but that the concert would 
go right on, the audience made no demur. When the 
people left the hall the police left too, very well satisfied 
that no pockets had been picked. 

But the legal question which was brought up referred to 
the violation of the lottery law, and the leaders, officers and 
directors wrangled over their shares in a most philanthrop- 
ical way ; as to the share which the poor Southern orphans 
should receive of the proceeds of the thirty thousand 
tickets which were acknowledged to have been sold, I have 
not yet heard. 

Mr. John T. Ford had a little vessel named in his honor; 
a craft which interested all of that rather large class of 
people who mistake foolhardiness for courage. 

The papers all over the country chronicled the departure 
from Baltimore on the 22d of fune, '67, of the two and a 
half tons schooner yacht " John T. Ford," for Furope. She 
was a wooden boat, not built on the life-boat principle, and 
was intended for exhibition at the great World's Fair at 
Paris. She was commanded by Captain Gold and manned by 
several Baltimore men. Of course there was a large crowd 
to see this miniature vessel depart for her perilous ocean 
voyage. She sailed from the Pratt Street wharf, and as 
she was being towed down the harbor by a steam tug all 
of the vessels in the neighborhood saluted by blowing 
whistles anil ringing bells. It was expected that the 
schooner would make the voyage in thirty-five days. 

Mr. Riddle went on the yacht as far as the Bay of 
Fundy, and left her there and returned to Baltimore. The 
reasons for his parting company with his companions were 



160 BALTIMORE. 

set forth in a letter from Captain Gold. They were sim- 
ply that the boat required expert seamen to man her, and 
as the space was so limited it was necessary to leave 
Mr. Riddle, who was not a good sailor, ashore, which was an 
extremely fortunate occurrence for him. Early in Septem- 
ber a report was received which came by the Atlantic cable 
to the effect that the yacht had been reported in Eng- 
land to be lost, and that only one man was saved of her 
crew. 

A little later more definite information in regard to the 
" Ford" was received and it became certain that the unfortu- 
nate little vessel and her crew had met an untoward fate. 
The British ship " Aerolite," from Liverpool for Bombay, 
picked up a man clinging to the bottom of an overturned 
boat. This man proved to be one Armstrong, a sailor who 
had been shipped in place of Mr. Riddle when the latter 
left the party on the Maine coast. On the night of the 19th 
of August the schooner capsized and Captain Gold and his 
Baltimore companions perished. The boat was finally 
washed ashore on the Irish coast. 

In the general confusion which attended the beginning 
of the war a claim had been allowed to remain unpaid. 
This was the amount of money clue in arrearages to the 
police of 1,860. It will be remembered that the dissolution 
of that force was quite sudden and its officers had reason 
to complain of the treatment they received at the hands of 
the men who were in temporary charge of the city. 
Finally after seven years the efforts of Messrs. Teackle 
Wallis and R. C. Barry, attorneys for the police, were 
successful, the claim was allowed and the Assembly ordered 
it paid and finally settled. 

At this time the cost of the Police Department was 



CHARITY AND REORGANIZATION. 161 

estimated to aggregate four hundred and sixty thousand 
dollars per annum. 

The will of Mr. John McDonough provided for the 
establishment and maintenance of a farm school in the 
count) 1 and free schools in the city of Baltimore, from the 
income of his estate. Over this will the city officials who 
were trustees of the fund, were much disturbed. Some 
argued that the sun left was not sufficient to carry out the 
designs of the philanthropist, and others argued that they 
were not relieved from the responsibility of doing the best 
they could. It was suggested as a compromise that a com- 
bination of farm ami city schools might be made. 

The result of this discussion I have given in the chapter 
on Educational Institutions. 



CHAPTER X. 




THE CONSTITUTIONS OF '64 AND '67. 

X-GOVERNOR HICKS was elected to 
the Senate of the United States in 1864 
by the Maryland Legislature then as- 
sembled at Annapolis. He was a Repub- 
lican, who had been a slave-holder but 
voted for the abolition of slavery and the 
Constitution of 1864. The same session 
of the Legislature which elected Governor Hicks framed a 
bill which became a law, calling for a popular vote to 
decide upon holding a convention to frame a new con- 
stitution for Maryland. 

The members of this convention were obliged to qualify 
by taking a cast iron oath to support the Constitution of 
the United States, each one vowing to "be faithful and 
bear true allegiance to the State of Maryland and the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, any law or ordinance of any 
state to the contrary notwithstanding, and that I have never 
either directly or indirectly, by word, deed or act, given aid, 
comfort or encouragement to those in rebellion against the 
Government of the United States," etc. etc. 



THE CONSTITUTION'S OF '64 AND '67. n ! 

That is to say, the convention was to be composed of 
men who were virtually pledged to a certain line of policy, 
which perhaps was the wisest way to avoid an)' difficulties 
just at that juncture. 

The Constitutional Convention met at Annapolis in 
April, 1864, and was in.session for four months, Henry II. 
Goldsborough being permanent chairman. The changes 
in the articles of the constitution adopted by the conven- 
tion were most radical, the abolition of slavery and "par- 
amount allegiance" to the Federal Government being 
fundamental enactments. 

Article Fifth of the declaration of rights, which was also 
adopted, was as follows : "The Constitution of the United 
States and the laws made in pursuance thereof being the 
supreme law of the land, every citizen of every state owes 
paramount allegiance to the Constitution ami Government 
of the U. S. and is not bound by any law or ordinance of 
this state in contravention or subversion thereof." That 
was of course a blow aimed at the doctrine of state rights, 
which at that day could not be as coolly discussed by the 
majority of Marylanders as to-day. 

Article Twenty-third declared the abolition of the institu- 
tion of slavery. As the value of slave property in Maryland 
was computed to aggregate $35,000,000 or over, it may be 
considered as perfectly natural that Article Twenty-third 
should have met with quite as much disfavor as Article 
Fifth. The third measure which seemed obnoxious to many 
was one which had the effect, under certain circumstances, 
of curtailing the liberty of the press. 

After providing for the registration of voters through- 
out the state, Section 4 presented an oath which practi- 
cally disfranchised the majority of citizens, if not in its 
letter, at least in the spirit by which it was afterwards inter- 



1 64 BALTIMORE. 

preted by those interested. The oath mentioned read in 
full as follows : 

" Section 4. No person who has at any time been in 
armed hostility to the United States, or the lawful author- 
ities thereof, or who has been in any manner in the service 
of the so-called 'Confederate States of America'; and no 
person who has voluntarily left this State and gone within 
the military lines of the so-called 'Confederate States or ar- 
mies,' with the purpose of adhering to said States or armies ; 
and no person who has given any aid, comfort, countenance 
or support to those engaged in armed hostility to the 
United States, or in any manner adhered to the enemies of 
the United States, either by contributing to the enemies of 
the United States, or unlawfully sending within the limits 
of such enemies money, eoods, or letters, or information ; 
or who has disloyally held communication with the enemies 
of the United States ; or who has advised any person to 
enter the service of the said enemies, or aided any person 
so to enter ; or who has by any open deed or word declared 
his adhesion to the cause of the enemies of the United 
States, or his desire for the triumph of the said enemies 
over the arms of the United States, shall be entitled to 
vote at any election to be held in this State, or to hold any 
office of honor, profit or trust under the laws of this State, 
unless, since such unlawful acts, he shall have voluntarily 
entered into the military service of the United States, and 
been honorably discharged therefrom, or shall be, on the 
day of election, actually and voluntarily in such service, or 
unless he shall be restored to his full rights of citizenship 
by an act of the General Assembly, passed by a vote of two- 
thirds of all the members elected to each House ; and it shall 
be the duty of all officers of registration and judges of elec- 



THE CONSTITUTIONS OF '64 AND '67. 165 

tion carefully to exclude from voting, or being registered, 
all persons so as above disqualified ; and the judges of elec- 
tion, at the first election held under the Constitution, shall, 
and at any subsequent election may administer to any per- 
son offering to vote the following oath or affirmation : 

" ' I do swear or affirm that I am a citizen of the United 
States, that I have never given any aid, countenance or 
support to those in armed hostility to the United States, 
that I have never expressed a desire for the triumph of said 
enemies over the arms of the United States, and that I will 
bear true faith and allegiance to the United States, and 
support the Constitution and laws thereof as the supreme 
law of the land, any law or ordinance of any State to the 
contrary notwithstanding ; that I will in all respects demean 
myself as a loyal citizen of the United States, and I make 
this oath or affirmation without any reservation or evasion 
and believe it to be binding on me.'" 

Provisions for receiving and counting the " soldier vote," 
even of soldiers outside of the state, were also made, and 
many minor changes, which however did not so deeply 
affect the people as those just alluded to. 

As the members of the convention were carefully weeded, 
so that no one could have his credentials accepted who was not 
on the side of those afterwards known as the Radicals — so 
the voter who went to cast his ballot when the new Consti- 
tution was submitted to the people in October found himself 
so hedged about with disabilities that unless his opinions 
were affirmed under oath to be of the proper complexion 
he could not vote. 

This was not at all to be wondered at when we consider 
the hot prejudices of that da)', but it was not calculated to 
soothe the feelings of any one who had perhaps looked with 
kindly eyes over the political border. 



166 BALTIMORE. 

■ 

Bitter as the opposition was, there seemed no way to pre- 
vent the culmination of an act which would take from 
Maryland that which her citizens had been wont to consider 
an inalienable right. 

The Honorable Reverdy Johnson, an Unconditional 
Union man and well known as one of the ablest constitu- 
tional lawyers the country has ever produced, gave an 
opinion upon the constitutionality of the oath proposed in 
the following language : 

"In the existing constitution no such oath as the one in 
question is required to give the right of suffrage, nor for 
voting on the new constitution that might thereafter be 
framed under the authority of the Legislature. 

" Nor did the law passed by the Legislature, and under 
which alone the recent convention was elected and held, 
authorize any other qualification for a vote on the constitu- 
tion, that they might recommend, other than what was re- 
quired by the existing constitution. On the contrary, in 
this respect its terms are perfectly plain. The sixth section 
provides ' that the constitution and form of government 
adopted by the said convention shall be submitted to the 
legal and qualified voters of the State for their adoption or 
rejection.' If the Legislature had authority so to legis- 
late, then they have by so doing, secured to every legal 
and qualified voter of the state the right to vote on the 
adoption or rejection of the new constitution. And no one, 
I suppose, holds that they did not possess that power. In- 
deed, they had no authority, except as it might be granted 
by subsequent popular assent, to prescribe any other quali- 
fication. Their powers being derived from the constitution 
they could not themselves take away any right of suffrage, 
nor authorize it to be done by any other body. The right 
being secured by the organic law, from its very nature is 




Reverdy Johnson. 



THE CONSTITUTIONS OF 04 AND '67. [67 

beyond the reach of mere legislative authority. No one 
can think that they could by the mere force of legislation, 
have extinguished the right, or could have authorized the 
convention to extinguish it, in a vote on any constitution 
they might propose. 

"The Legislature were but the agents of the people by 
whom they were chosen, and these were the then ' legal 
and qualified voters of the State.' How can it be that as 
such agents they could deprive their principals of rights 
secured by constitutional guarantee ? And what difference 
is there between such an act, and that of limiting or con- 
trolling such rights? In my opinion each is alike void from 
want of authority. 

" But the Legislature, in the law providing for the conven- 
tion, attempted no such usurpation. On the contrary they 
provided that the constitution which that body might form 
should be submitted to those, and to all of those who, at 
the time, should have a right to vote under the existing 1 
condition, and to no one else. It has been, I learn, sug- 
gested, rather than seriously maintained, that the act of the 
convention in question was authorized by reason of that 
part of the law under which it was elected, which says that 
the constitution is to be submitted to the people ' at such 
time, in such manner and subject to such regulations as 
said convention may prescribe.' This suggestion, it seems 
to me is wholly without warrant. The question is to whom, 
and not under what regulations, the constitution is to be 
submitted. And the law says that the persons to whom the 
submission is to be made are ' the legal and qualified voters 
of the State.' At what time, in what manner, and under 
what regulations the submission was to be made, not being 
provided for by any prior law, nor by the law authorizing 
the convention, it was proper and necessary that these 



1 68 BALTIMORE. 

should be left to the convention itself. But that this au- 
thority was intended to give the convention the power to 
exclude from the right to vote the persons, who, by the 
same law, were secured in that right, cannot be even plausi- 
bly maintained. Indeed, so far from this having been the 
purpose of the words quoted, they were used not to take 
away or impair the existing right of suffrage, but merely to 
provide for the mode of exercising it." 

Others coincided with this opinion, and a minority ad- 
dress was offered to the people by certain members of the 
convention in which these cool and reasonable words ap- 
pear : 

" At the outset of this movement we, in common with a 
large portion of the people of the State, entertained the 
opinion that this period of civil war — a war in which scarcely 
a family in the State was exempted from the excitement 
necessarily resulting from the personal participation of one 
or more of its members, and in a large number of cases, 
from the death of such member, and from the destruction 
of property, and the pecuniary loss to which they had been 
subjected — was not the appropriate time for a calm, consid- 
erate work, which of all others demanded the cool delibera- 
tions of men in the highest degree divested of personal or 
party prejudices." 

That indeed was the marrow of the whole unfortunate 
business. Men were attempting to deliberate when the 
time for deliberation had not arrived. 

Memorials, petitions, protests were offered from all over 
the state against the test oath, but not only was the oath 
administered, but additional questions were required to be 
answered. Governor Bradford gave unequivocal testimony 
as to his partisanship at this time by his favorable attitude 
toward the provisions of the proposed constitution. 



THE CONSTITUTIONS OF '64 AND '67. 169 

And yet, in spite of all these precautionary measures, the 
promoters of the new constitution would have lost and did 
lose the contest but for the soldier vote, which changed a 
majority of 1995 votes against the measure to a poor ma- 
jority of 375 votes for it. The result was so close to a tie 
that every effort was made to test the legality of the result, 
but without avail. 

Following this came the establishment of General Lew 
Wallace's " Freedman's Bureau," which had some good and 
wise provisions as well as some very foolish ones. 1 he 
confiscation of the Maryland Club House as a house of 
" rest" for the negroes was one of the most unpopular acts 
ever performed in Baltimore. 

It would be bootless to continue to analyze the constitu- 
tion of 1864, and its effects. The measure was put through 
at a time when few men could think dispassionately or act 
rationally in any matter which had a political side to it. 

It is at least too late to-day to take a partisan view or to 
doubt that those who then displayed the most active zeal 
would at this day show a spirit much more liberal and in 
accord with nineteenth century standards. 

The Legislature of the following year, convened in 
March, passed a law which regulated the registration of vot- 
ers, so that an oath should be administered by registers ap- 
pointed by the Governor, to each person signifying an in- 
tention of voting at the coming election. Among some of 
the questions asked were the following, which will speak for 
themselves : 

"X. Have you ever been in any manner in the service of the so-called 
' Confederate States of America ? ' 

" XI. Have you ever left this State and gone within the military lines of 
the so-called 'Confederate States' or armies, for the purpose of adhering 
t<> said States or armies? 



i ;o BALTIMORE. 

"XIII. Have you ever in any manner adhered to the enemies of the 
United States or the so-called ' Confederate States ' or armies ? 

"XIV. Have you ever contributed money, goods, provisions, labor, or 
any such thing, to procure food, clothing, implements of war or any such 
thing for the enemies of the United States or the so-called 'Confederate 
States ' or armies ? 

•' XVII. Have you ever advised any person to enter the service of 
the enemies of the United States, or the so-called ' Confederate States' or 
armies, or advised any one to enter ? 

"XXII. Have you on any occasion expressed sympathy for the Gov- 
ernment of the United States during the rebellion ? 

" XXIII. During the rebellion, when the armies were engaged in battle, 
did you wish the success of the armies of the United States or those of the 
rebels ? " 

The result of all this was such as might have been 
predicted, and doubtless was, by the minority in power. 
About one-fifth of the people governed themselves and the 
other four-fifths, giving them what laws they pleased. 

The vexed question of the status of the negro came up 
repeatedly ; not as now a familiar problem of which the 
answer has been patiently worked out, at least in part; but 
a question new, strange, and to many people, terrible. Ad- 
ded to the great loss of property-involved was the other ques- 
tion, " What shall we do with him?" It was not easy to 
answer all at once. 

Gradually a more strenuous opposition to the registration 
law was developed, those who had shown apathy, or at hast 
an ignorance of how to work at first, gradually becoming 
the units of an organized force which should after awhile 
make itself felt. The course of reconstruction is almost 
always very slow, especially when the good to be gained 
is great. 

Several of the newspapers of Baltimore were active and 
earnest in their opposition to the obnoxious law. This was 
especially the case with the Sun, Gazette and the Sunday 



THE CONSTITUTIONS OF 04 AND '67. 171 

Telegram. The German Correspondent too, fought in line 
with the others. The Sun especially has been eulogized for 
its temperate, though decided attitude at this time, and Mr. 
A. S. Abell, the proprietor and publisher, should be ever 
respected in the State. 

The wishes of the people and the utterances of the press 
finally crystallized in a meeting held in Baltimore in Jan- 
uary of 1 866, at which a committee was appointed and 
resolutions adopted looking towards a convention which 
should adequately voice the sentiments of the majority of 
the people of Maryland. 

The call for the convention was responded to upon 
the 24th of January. It met at Temperance Temple in 
Baltimore with a full showing of delegates from all the 
counties in the state. The names of those present in- 
cluded many of the most honorable men in Maryland. 
The \ Ion. Montgomery Blair was chosen as chairman and 
supporting him were gentlemen of well-known character 
and ability. The resolutions which were adopted, were as 
follows : 

" I. Resolved, by this Convention, representing all the people of Mary- 
land who are in favor of the restoration of political rights to the disfran- 
chised citizens of the Stales, that the persistent efforts of the President of 
the United States to restore to their political rights the citizens of the South- 
ern States, and to protect them in the enjoyment of their constitutional 
relations to the Federal government, receive our cordial endorsement, 
and we pledge to him our support in his efforts to re-establish the rights 
of the States under the Federal government upon a constitutional basis. 

"II. Resolved, That the president of this convention be directed to 
communicate to the President of the United States a copy of the proceed- 
ings of this convention, and to express to him their high appreciation of 
his patriotic efforts to restore peace, good feeling and political equality 
between all sections of the countrv. 



172 BALTIMORE. 

" III. Resolved, That we will, and all who are opposed to the odious 
laws of proscription and disqualification should be, determined and per- 
sistent in the effort to regain the freedom that is now most unjustly and 
tyrannically withheld from the majority by the minority of the citizens of 
the State, and that there should be no cessation to the struggle to recover 
such freedom until equal liberty to all citizens of the State is made 
triumphant. 

" IV. Resolved, That the registration law of this State is odious and op- 
pressive in its provisions, unjust and tyrannical in the manner of its admin- 
istration, the fruitful source of dissension among the people, calculated to 
keep alive the memory of differences which ought to be forgotten, and that 
sound policy, enlightened statesmanship and positive justice demand its 
immediate repeal. 

"V. Resolved, That the provisions of the 4th Section of the 1st Article 
of the Constitution, which prescribe conditions to the elective franchise, 
before unknown to the people of Maryland, are retrospective, partaking of 
the nature of an ex post facto law, and repugnant to the terms of the 
Declaration of Rights, as well as to the Constitution of the United States." 

The resolutions, an address and a petition signed by 
over twenty thousand citizens were presented to the Leg- 
islature, which body however refused to consider any 
"interference with the registry law," which " ought to be 
rigorously enforced." 

There were at this time two principal political parties in 
the state, the first being the so-called " Radical " party, 
which though numerically smaller than the other, yet had 
the power in government. The second was known as the 
"Conservative" party. The difference was mainly that 
the first kept up, long after the occasion for it had died 
away, the distinctions born of war differences, while the 
latter believed in burying dead issues. Both were com- 
posed of men who had been Unionists during the war, else 
they would have had no voice in politics whatever. 

In the fall elections of 1866 the interpretation of the 
registry law was somewhat modified by those appointed to 



THE CONSTITUTIONS OF (,\ AND '67. 173 

enforce it, though the application of the same principle 
prevailed at the polls. The result has been called a con- 
servative victory, and indeed was so in effect. A more 
threatening election than that has seldom been known and 
a strong pressure was brought to bear to induce Federal 
military interference. On this point a wise letter from 
General Grant to the Chief Executive of the nation con- 
tained this passage : 

"Military interference would be interpreted as giving aid to one of the 
factions, no matter how pure the intention, or how guarded and just the 
instructions. It is a contingency I hope never to see arise in this country 
while I occupy the position of general-in-chief of the army, to have to send 
troops into a State in tull relations with the- general government, on the 
eve of an election, to preserve the peace. If insurrection does come, the 
law provides the method of calling out forces to suppress it. No such 
condition seems to exist now. 

" U. S. Grant, General." 

The removal of Police Commissioners Hinds and Wood, 
by Governor Swann, in response to a strong petition, con- 
stituted one of the exciting episodes of this election. 

On the 24th of January, 1867, a bill passed the Legisla- 
ture which provided that all citizens who had opposed the 
policy of the Federal government might vote upon taking 
oath " to bear true faith and allegiance to the United 
States and support the Constitution thereof," etc. etc. This, 
however, was withdrawn before it had obtained the Gov- 
ernor's signature. 

But the revolution in power was finally being accom- 
plished. The election of '66 was practically a victory for 
the conservative Unionists, and the conservative Democrats 
were not slow to take advantage of it. 

Perhaps the real character and status of Maryland, which 
had been so misrepresented by partisans and not misunder- 



i- 4 BALTIMORE. 

stood by strangers, was shown in a speech of General Phelps, 
on the question of removing the Naval Academy from An- 
napolis. He said, " Now, sir, it is too late in the day for gen- 
tlemen to come in here and say that Maryland is not a loyal 
State. Fifty thousand of her sons upon the muster-roll of 
the Union army are the answer to the libel. Thirty millions 
dollars thrown into the breach, with eighty-seven thousand 
of her slaves, as a voluntary sacrifice to the Union at the 
time it was imperiled, is the answer to the libel. The first 
State to advance her quota of the war tax, she was the third 
to ratify the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. 
Sir, it is too late for any man to come before an intelligent 
body of gentlemen, no matter how strong their party feel- 
ings or party prejudices, and deliberately ask the removal 
of this national institution, not called for by any considera- 
tions of propriety or economy, on the ground that a State 
with such a record is not a loyal State."- 

One of the remarkable men of that time was Ex-Gov- 
ernor Francis Thomas, an orator of great power and brill- 
iancy of thought and diction, whose record had been one 
of great courage and not a little obstinacy. He had retired 
from public life for private reasons before the war, but that 
epoch brought him from his retirement and made him a 
power in Western Maryland, where he was a leader of the 
most strenuous Unionists. Until after the war, however, 
Thomas was not an extreme Radical, though he afterwards 
united with that wing of the party. To him was due much 
of the opposition to the measures on foot to remove the 
ban under which the state lay politically. He was sent to 
Congress by his party, where he served it most loyally. 

Owing to Ex-Governor Thomas and others, the growing 
popular sentiment in favor of a new constitution was made 
the excuse for a plan to reconstruct the government of 



THE CONSTITUTIONS OF '64 AND 07. 175 

Maryland on the same basis upon which the governments 
of Confederate states had been remodelled. 

The Radical minority in the Maryland Legislature about 
this time presented a memorial to Congress praying for 
Federal interference. Senator Nye of Nebraska was in- 
trusted with a petition signed by "The Grand Council of 
the Union League of Maryland," and a Radical State Con- 
vention framed a set of resolutions, all seeking the same 
end, viz. : Federal interposition to prevent the majority 
from ruling in the state — in other words, martial law. 

Finally, the Legislature decided in March, 1867, to allow 
the people to decide whether a convention should be held 
to discuss the "subject of a new constitution. The vote in 
favor of the convention cast at the April election was 34.554 
out of a total of 58,718 ballots. 

So the Governor, acting in accordance with the provision 
made by the Legislature in its act, issued a proclamation 
calling for a convention of delegates at Annapolis on the 
8th of May. 

That was a notable meeting. Richard B. Carmichael, of 
Queen Anne's County, presided over its deliberations, and 
a session of over three months resulted in the presentation 
to the people of a new constitution, which was adopted by 
a vote of 47, 152 to 23,036. 

That constitution, which is still in force, went into effect 
on the 5th of October, 1867. The reorganization was a 
peaceful and successful step in the direction of good 
government and rational political methods, yet it still met 
with opposition from Governor Thomas and his faction, 
who reported from the Committee on Judiciary a resolu- 
tion to "continue the inquiries heretofore ordered by the 
House concerning public affairs in Maryland, with all the 
power and authority given to the committee," etc. 



1 7 6 BALTIMORE. 

This attack brought from Mr. Phelps the following elo- 
quent amendment, which was the last word in the history of 
opposition to the rights of Marylanders. "The attempt 
has been made here and been persisted in for more than 
twelve months, by a secret ex parte inquisition, no voice 
from that State being allowed to be heard in her defence, 
not only to impeach a State of this Union in full relation 
to the general government, but to put that State upon trial 
for its life, its independence, its sovereignty, its integrity. 
It is time the country should know what has been passing 
in silence and secrecy through the subterraneous channels 
underneath this floor. I have made the effort, by appear- 
ing before the committee having in charge this investiga- 
tion, to secure for my State something like a fair hearing in 
the examination of witnesses. I had always supposed that 
the constitution of a State of this Union was a document 
of such authentic character that it proved itself. But it ap- 
pears that in these days it is regarded as standing upon 
parol evidence, depending on matter in pais, and estab- 
lished or overthrown by such partisan testimony as can be 
drummed up in the interest of a defeated and disappointed 
political faction. Such testimony as this is brought forward 
to prejudice the minds of those who are already sufficiently 
hostile. Even the very reasonable request which I made 
was refused or indefinitely postponed. The testimony has 
been taken in the absence and without cross-examination 
on the part of those who, knowing the character of the wit- 
nesses and familiar with the political history of the State, 
could probe and sift the testimony upon the spot, prove the 
extravagance of willing witnesses, and thus aid materially 
in eliciting truth." 

The subsequent elections were peaceably held, and the long 
trouble and discord was finally settled, let us hope, forever. 



CHAPTER XI. 



COMMOTIONS AND ALARMS. 




HE Baltimore & Ohio riots in '57 created 
a great commotion. Living in a city where 
all classes of society are represented, is very 
much like living over a volcano which may 
possibly become active at any moment. 
The conductors and brakemen of the first 
and second divisions of the road refused 
to work on the 29th of April. The woods between Balti- 
more and the Relay House soon became a camping-ground 
for the strikers, and it was necessary in sending freight 
trains through to put them under armed protection, because 
the strikers not only refused to work themselves but pro- 
posed to keep any one else from working in their places. 
For a week this state of things lasted. A crisis arrived on 
the afternoon of the 1st of May. At this time Sheriff 
Pole, of Baltimore County, with a posse, embarked at Cam- 
den Station for the main road, near Gwynn's balls. He 
went in a passenger car attached to a freight train, and 
following Avere several trains from Mount Clare depot. 
At Jackson's Bridge there was a deep cut, and just before 



178 BALTIMORE. 

reaching: this the engineer on the locomotive of the sheriff's 
train saw a man on the track waving his arms as though 
signaling- the train to stop, but no heed was paid to this 
warning. In a few moments it was discovered to have 
been given with friendly purpose, for the strikers held 
possession of the cut, and as soon as the train ca'me within 
reach thev besfan firing; shots and throwing- missiles at it, 
though without effecting any material damage at first. The 
men on the train fired a return volley, by which several of 
the strikers were mortally wounded. While the train 
which contained the sheriff and his posse got through 
safely the rear trains were stopped and uncoupled. The 
windows and panelings were smashed, and many of the 
people on board of them were injured. 

While passing under the bridge the advance train was 
attacked from above and much damage was done to it by 
the shower of rocks which was poured down upon it. 

For two days the same course of conduct was pursued on 
the part of the strikers. Then Governor Ligon came to 
Baltimore and held a conference with the officers of the 
Baltimore & Ohio railroad at Barnum's Hotel. As a re- 
sult of this meeting, a proclamation signed by the governor 
was issued, warning all persons to keep away from the 
neighborhood of these disturbances. Of course, following 
such a proclamation, there could be but one logical result. 
People knew what to expect ; it meant that the military 
were; to be called into play. 

The Baltimore City Guards and the Independent Grays, 
the first commanded by Captain Warner and the latter by 
Captain Brush, joined with the posse under the sheriff and 
advanced in the bunk car Sebastopol, which was attached to 
a freight train. The conductors of this train, in command 
of the expedition, were Colonel Shutt and Captain Raw- 



COMMOTIONS AND ALARMS. 179 

lings. Accompanying- the expedition were Colonel J. Alden 
Weston, Adjutant Johannes, Paymaster Tyson, Quarter- 
master McKim, and last but not least, Sergeant Stewart, all 
of the Fifth Regiment. General Egerton and Colonel Mont- 
gomery were also present as volunteers. When the train 
went off a great throng of people were assembled to see it. 
It was like a battle-ship going out of harbor. 

Now at the same place as before, that is, the cut at Jack- 
son's Bridge, there were stones thrown and pistols fired at 
the train, from which shots were returned but without doing 
any damage. A mile further on, the train was again assailed 
in a cut, and this time the retaliation was much more effec- 
tive. There were several men hurt and one killed. A few 
miles beyond this the expedition overtook a derailed train. 
Having removed the wreck it proceeded to Endicott's Mills, 
the members congratulating themselves in that they had 
cleared the track for that distance. 

They left the Mills at ten o'clock and on the return trip 
met with no serious opposition, getting back without injuries 
to within two or three miles of the city, when a spiked rail 
threw the locomotive and several cars from the track, by 
which occurrence several of the military were injured. 
There being no other engine on hand the members of this 
force were obliged to return from their raid on foot to the 
city. There were no further difficulties after this, as the 
affair was soon afterwards amicably settled ,by arbitration. 

One of the most important strikes connected with rail- 
roads which have occurred in the history of the country was 
the great Baltimore & Ohio strike of 1S77, twenty years 
after the conductors' and trainmen's strike ahead)- narrated. 
The strike began on Monday. By Tuesday it had reached 
the Ohio river ami spread to all the divisions of the road. 
On Wednesday the papers came out with big head lines 



1S0 BALTIMORE. 

announcing that the firemen's strike was assuming danger- 
ous proportions ; that freight trains were unable to move, 
transportation at a standstill, a riot under way at Martins- 
burg and serious injury of various people in the encounters 
which had already taken place between the rioters and the 
military. 

In the blockade at Martinsburg, in West Virginia, thirty 
or more trains were stalled. Up to the 17th of July, which 
was the second day of the strike, no passenger trains had 
been molested, and there was every evidence that the strikers 
would refrain as long as possible from resorting to any acts 
of violence against the travelling public. The trouble arose 
from the grievances which the freight men considered that 
they had against the management of the road. Their 
troubles, as described by themselves, were certainly severe 
enough to have merited, if true, the compassion of any 
charitable person. The difficulty was that they had taken 
illegal measures to secure the redress of their wrongs. 
They claimed among other things that the trainmen who 
ran the freights on the line were often thrown out several 
days in the week, and worked like machines or rolling-stock 
of the road the rest of the time. There were, they said, 
more men employed than the business would warrant and 
smaller wages paid than the work called for. The number 
of cars in a freight train was increased, but there was no in- 
crease in the number of men on each train. The trainmen 
had more labor than formerly while they were employed, 
but the employment was less. They said that on down 
grades, owing to the weight of the train, it often slid a mile 
or more after the brakes were applied, because there was 
never a sufficient force to apply all the brakes at the right 
time, and also for the reason that the trains were too heavy 
to handle. 



COMMOTIONS AND ALARMS. 1S1 

The percentage of accidents to the men employed was 
much greater than formerly, the average being one every 
other day. Men who had no other employment, and yet 
found themselves unable to keep the wolf from the door by 
their earnings as freight trainmen, became depressed and 
hopeless ; and this condition, which was caused by under 
pay, was increased by overwork. In two cases brakemen 
were reported to have committed suicide by throwing them- 
selves under the wheels of the moving cars. If a stop was 
made on the road from any cause the loss came upon the 
employee, as he was not paid by time, but by the run ; so 
that if it took forty-five hours from Martinsburg to Balti- 
more, it only counted one day's pay. Men living at one 
end or the other of the line were not granted return passes 
if laid over at the other end of the route ; thus they had 
to pay board, sometimes for several days at a time, in one 
town while their families were living in another. And with 
all these extra expenses the average pay of the men did not 
exceed thirty dollars a month. On top of all this the di- 
rectors of the road issued the following announcement : 

" To the Officers and Employees of the Baltimore 6- Ohio Railroad Com- 
pany : At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Baltimore & Ohio 

Railroad Company, held this day, the following preamble and resolutions 
were adopted : 

'• Whereas, The depression in the general business interests of the country 
continues, thus seriously affecting the usual earnings of railway companies, 
and rendering a further reduction of expenses necessary, therefore be it 

'■'■Resolved, That a reduction of ten per cent be made in the present 
compensation of all officers and employees of every grade in the service of 
this company where the amount received exceeds one dollar per day, to 
take effect on and after July 161I1 instant. 

" Resolved, That the said reduction shall apply to the Main Stem and 
branches east of the Ohio river, and to the Trans-Ohio Divisions, and that 
it shall embrace all roads leased or operated by the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroad Company. 



l§2 BALTIMORE. 

" It is hoped that all persons in the employ of the company will appre- 
ciate the necessity of and concur cordially in this action. 

" The Board postponed action until some time after its great competitors, 
the Pennsylvania, the New York Central & Hudson River, and New 
York and Erie Companies had made similar reductions in pay, with the 
hope that this necessity would be obviated. In this they have been dis- 
appointed. 

" The President, in announcing the decision of the Board, takes 
occasion to express the conviction and expectation that every officer and 
man in the service will cheerfully recognize the necessity of the reduction, 
and earnestly co-operate in every measure of judicious economy necessary 
to aid in maintaining affectively the usefulness and success of the company. 

"John W. Garrett, President." 

The account of the grievances of the men as stated from 
their standpoint in the daily press at the time has been given 
here that we may understand fully the importance of this 
movement and the difficulty that there would naturally be in 
quelling- the riots which grew out of it. There were also 
several minor complaints, as for instance that the firemen 
who used to have hostlers (as they were called) to clean 
their eno-ines, were obliged to do that work for themselves. 
It was stated on the authority of the leaders of the striking- 
engineers that half of the firemen in the employ of the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad after paying board at the other 
end of the line and other expenses, did not have ten 
dollars a month for the support of their families. 

After the strike was in progress there was a busy time at 
the office of Vice-President Kingf. Lawyers were g-oine to 
and fro, messengers hurrying about, dispatches received 
and sent and all the usual machinery put to work to stop 
the serious evil which menaced the community. 

The strike did not confine itself to one road. Indeed at 
one time there was serious apprehension that a great deal 
of the business of the country would be tied up. The 
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern were among" the first 



COMMOTIONS AND ALARMS. 1S3 

roads heard from, but the Ohio & Mississippi, and in fact 
nearly all the Central and Western lines bid lair to follow. 
In different states, in New York, Pennsylvania, West 
Virginia and Ohio, as well as here, the military had either 
been called out or ordered to be in readiness, and appeals 
for Federal aid were even made in some quarters. 

The President of the United States was addressed by 
the Governor of Maryland in the following letter: 

Camden Station, July 21. 

His Excellency R. B. Hayes : 

Sir: — An assemblage of rioters thrtt cannot be dispersed by any force 
at my command has taken possession of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 
depot here, set fire to the same, and have driven off all the firemen who 
attempted to extinguish the flames; and it is impossible, with the force at 
my command, to disperse the rioters. Under the circumstances, as Gov- 
ernor of the State of Maryland, I call upon you, as President of the 
United States, to furnish the force necessary to protect the State against 
domestic violence. The Legislature is not in session, and cannot be con- 
vened in time to meet the emergency. 

(Signed 1 John Lee Carroll, Governor of Maryland. 

This letter was referred to George W. McCrary, Sec- 
retary of War, who replied is the follov ing letters : 

To Governor John Lee Carroll, Baltimore, Md. 

The President directs me to say that he will aid you to the extent of his 
power. Available troops will be sent, but a call upon neighboring States 
will probably be necessary. Communicate with me here, and I will advise 
you more definitely in a short time. 

(Signed) George W. McCrary, Secretary of War. 

Soldiers' Home, July 21. 
Gen. Thomas M.Vincent, Acting Adjutant-General, has been ordered to 
send to your aid any available force, especially artillery fri >m Fort McHenry, 
which, it is hoped, may prove very useful. If General French can be 
spared from West Virginia, he will be sent to your aid. Address any 
further communication to-night to General Vincent, who has full authority. 

George \V. McCrary. 



1 84 BALTIMORE. 

It will be seen from these dispatches that the magnitude 
of the strike was appreciated, as indeed it could not fail to 
be, since the whole country, as we have seen, was in a 
state of anxiety, and business was everywhere, along the 
lines of the Baltimore & Ohio and its leased roads, seri- 
ously interfered with. The riots, and damage to property 
and business in other cities we will not attempt to retell 
here, as it is already a matter of history, and has nothing 
to do with recollections of Baltimore. In our city not a 
few outrages against life and property were committed. 
As an example of the rough temper of the mob may be 
instanced the case of a private of the Sixth Regiment, who 
being caught by the rioters, had his uniform literally torn 
from him and was thrown into Jones' Falls. The militia 
regiments did good service at this time and this is especially 
true of the Fifth Regiment. Indeed the nerve and self- 
control shown by both the officers and the men of this 
popular command is worthy of all admiration. While the 
disturbance was not confined to one point, yet a great deal 
of it was in the neighborhood of Camden Station, and here 
the Fifth Regiment, meeting a body of rioters bent on mis- 
chief, refrained from firing, but led by Captain Zollinger, 
marched steadily, in compact order, through its assailants 
and gained the depot. During this progress the regiment 
was rather severely handled, and at the end was rescued by 
the police, who arrested a number of the ringleaders while 
the regiment, with fixed bayonets, kept the crowd at bay. 

A number of private citizens, men of position in Balti- 
more, responded to the occasion and voluntarily acted with 
the force under the direction of the Police Commission- 
ers. 

At this time the method of handling the police force was 
such that it was extremely difficult to concentrate any number 



COMMOTIONS AND ALARMS. 185 

of men at a given point on short notice. Added to this our 
police had had little experience in handling strikes. Natu- 
rally therefore, arguing by other riots, the expedient of arrest- 
ing the ringleaders was first resorted to. We were somewhat 
surprised to find that this had little or no effect upon the 
rapid growth of the mob. At first tire-arms were not used 
by those who were endeavoring to preserve the peace. \\ e 
were wise I think in refraining, because the people had not 
yet awakened to the necessity for strong measures and had 
we begun by using our pistols we would have been sub- 
jected to the most severe criticism from the very people 
who were afterwards most willing to endorse us in any 
action. We found that this riot was not to be stamped out 
without recourse to measures which would seem at ordi- 
nary times violent. With the increased amount of mischief 
clone by the strikers the sentiment of the citizens under- 
went a decided change. At the beginning of the week they 
would have said " Brutal police " if we had used our fire- 
arms, but by the end of the week, it was " Anything to 
quell the riots." 

The Mount Clare Depot was attacked and an effort 
made to fire the company's workshops in the neighbor- 
hood, but this attempt was frustrated by the military. A 
few hours later a more successful effort was made by the 
incendiaries on a long train of coal cars which stood on a 
siding at the viaduct. It was soon a brilliant scene ; the 
flames from the blazing cars illuminated the clouds, while 
the dense smoke at the sides rolled out over as singular a 
battle-field as ever man witnessed. Beneath its murky 
cloud the police were fighting the devouring flames and the 
no less unguarded and fierce human beings that crowded 
in to prevent interference with their destructive purpose. 
We saved a great deal of this property, though the loss 



1 86 BALTIMORE. 

amounted to many thousands of dollars, but it was saved 
by making' a double fight for it. 

The entire force that we could muster at that time was 
insufficient to accomplish all that we desired, and we were 
not sorry to be reinforced by a party of marines which 
came to our aid and did good service. 

It was not until Friday that we accepted the necessity of 
firing into the crowd, and when this point was reached it 
was with the utmost reluctance that we resorted to such ex- 
treme measures. Because a man wears a blue coat and is 
enrolled on the police force, it does not make it easy for 
him to draw a pistol on his neighbors and friends. The 
first volley was fired into the ground, as we aimed low pur- 
posely, thinking to frighten our opponents ; but instead of 
its having this desired effect our action was misinterpreted, 
and from all sides we heard the leaders of the mob en- 
couraging" their associates by saying that we were shamming 
and dared not really shoot into their ranks. So it became 
necessary to aim with most purpose and our volley was so 
effectual that a number of men fell and the groans of the 
wounded were soon the only sounds that took the place of 
the challenges to which we had so recently listened. As 
soon as it was found that we were thoroughly in earnest the 
crowd took to its heels. 

The Police Commissioners placed on duty a special force 
of five hundred men. These extra police were to be held 
as an especial reserve at the station-houses ; as has been al- 
ready said these reinforcements were drawn from among 
the worthiest citizens of Baltimore. As upon another occa- 
sion, the food for the police force was cooked in the South- 
ern District at Headquarters, and served to the men at their 
posts. Not only were the police reinforced and put in po- 
sition to be of greater service, but there were also several 



COMMOTIONS AND ALARMS. 1S7 

thousand troops in town, and the war vessels " Powhatan" 
and " Swatara" arrived to aid, if necessary, in the work of sup- 
pressing the riot. When the United States troops arrived 
some of the cars in which the)' were, were menaced, but the 
demonstration went no further. A corps of the United 
States Engineers arrived unexpectedly from New York and 
were attacked with stones in the street. Major-General 
Winfield Scott Hancock, commanding the Eastern Division 
of the Arm)', arrived and made his headquarters at Barnum's 
Hotel. General Ayers was also present in the city and two 
new regiments of militia were partially recruited at the 
Fifth Regiment Armory. Nothing could have shown more 
distinctly how thoroughly the people of the city had awak- 
ened to the necessities of the occasion than the rapid or- 
ganization of these regiments and the class of men who 
thronged by hundreds to answer to the call for recruits. 
The Sixth Regiment seemed to have disappeared entirely. 
Their arms; ammunition, accoutrements, and even uniforms 
were abandoned at their armory, and man)' of the men en- 
rolled in other regiments. Governor Carroll with his staff, 
and Adjutant-General Bond had their headquarters at the 
City Hall. There General Hancock consulted with them 
and discussed the best means for the perfection ol plans to 
protect the city and effect the dispersion of the mob. In- 
deed the Federal authority responded very quickly to Bal- 
timore's call for assistance, and several efficient corps were 
thrown into the city. 

On Sunday morning there was a demonstration at Cam- 
den Station and at Eutaw and Howard Streets. These 
crowds got to be so annoying that we were obliged to an- 
nounce our intention of again clearing the street. With 
twenty picked men I advanced on the mob ; some fell back, 
others disputed the way until forced back. We were 



iSS BALTIMORE. 

also obliged to clear Camden Street several times that 
clay. 

Our duty was not only to fight and quell the rioters, put 
down disturbances and prevent attacks upon citizens, but also 
to protect both private and state property. It was also 
necessary to keep a close watch over the distilleries and 
liquor shops. As it was alcohol played its full part in the 
general disturbance. In a few days the traffic and travel 
of the road had been resumed, the strike, which had died 
hard, was finally over, and the 'jj riots were a matter of his- 
tory, to be remembered with dread as showing the possibili- 
ties to which a large city is always subject. 

A tremendous fire that roused people in the threatened 
parts of Baltimore to absolute terror, devastated a portion 
of the city in July of 1873. Joseph Thomas & Sons, on 
Park and Clay Streets, used to have a large planing-mill 
and sash and blind factory on Park and Clay Streets. The 
immense quantity of chips, shavings, small wood, etc., that 
invariably accumulated around such a place, made a collection 
of inflammable stuff that went like tinder when fire once got 
into it. In the shaving's box near the engine-room of this 
establishment the conflagration started. Either there was 
no one near at hand to extinguish the flames at the very 
outset, or else the suddenness of the blaze made that 
impossible. At any rate in a few minutes the factory was 
a mass of flame, a roaring furnace which soon became so 
hot that the firemen were repeatedly driven away from it. 
The flames leapt from the sash works to other buildings in 
the neighborhood, which no efforts sufficed to save. In an 
incredibly short time their fierce heat was added to that of 
the mill and the firemen retreated out of Park Street, where 
they had been trying to work, altogether. 

Men were injured in jumping from second- and third-story 



I OMMOTIONS AND ALARMS. 1S9 

windows to escape from being roasted alive, so rapidly did 
the flames spread. A great many of the neighboring 
houses were frame structures with shingle roofs, and these 
of course were like tinder to the sparks that the wind 
carried over and dropped upon them. 

As the circle of fire increased, so the wind seemed to be- 
come more violent, as it frequently does at great fires. 
Houses caught fire by twos and threes. The wind was 
easterly, so that the sparks and cinders were carried to the 
westward, sparing Lexington Street, but the west part of 
Park as well as Clay and Saratoga Streets got the full force 
of the fiery storm, and the buildings there added to the 
spreading conflagration. 

The Fire Department was almost powerless to check the 
advance of the flames, which roared and leapt from house to 
house like a hungry, terrible, beautiful wild beast, devour- 
ing whatever it touched. In vain the men stood gallantly to 
their work till driven back by the heat. Between Thomas' 
mills and Clay Street the laddies did not retreat in time 
and a lot of their hose was destroyed by the fire. 

Soon the fire extended still further. Park Street, which 
for a while was the barrier on that side, was crossed and 
the livery stables of John I). Stewart on Lexington Street 
fell a prey to the flames. Then carpenter and paint shops 
went. People began to move out of their houses all over 
the neighborhood, drays and wagons, loaded with house- 
hold goods, blocked the streets, and everywhere there was a 
scene of the wildest confusion. The deep red glow on the 
heavens could be seen for many miles. It did not need the 
services of the police to drive idle, curiosity-smitten sight- 
seers back from the neighborhood of the fire. If there 
were many people there who had no more than curiosity to 
draw them they were kept at a respectful distance by the 



i 9 o BALTIMORE. 

fierce furnace heat. The uproar was like nothing else that 
man ever listened to, but that which attends a big fire. 
The steady roar of human voices, thousands of throats 
shouting and screaming together till no one could have dis- 
tinguished one individual voice in the terrific undertone of 
sound, was pierced by the shrill scream of whistles and 
broken by the clanging of Saint Alphonsus church bells. 
And all these sounds were blended into one by the fire that 
sounded its deep organ tone without ceasing. 

Lexington, Saratoga, Park and Clay Streets were a sea of 
flames that rolled from house to house in great billows. 

The German Lutheran church was consumed. The roof 
of Saint Alphonsus church caught fire, but was saved 
by heroic effort. Then a new alarm arose from the ap- 
pearance of fire on Park and Mulberry Streets. Six houses 
were in a blaze there at once, and by almost superhuman 
efforts on the part of citizens, the engines being engaged 
elsewhere, the flames were mastered. A section of the 
Maryland Institute caught fire from sparks and the roof of 
the gallery was at one time in a blaze. 

Amateur fire brigades were hastily formed in different 
localities and did noble service, otherwise the whole city of 
Baltimore might have been destroyed, since the regular fire 
department was utterly unable to cope with the terrible 
situation. 

The wind shifted at about one o'clock and the Central 
Presbyterian church was among the first buildings of ac- 
count to go. At first the spire, then the roof was ignited. 
The fires then raging upon Mulberry and Saratoga Streets 
seemed to surround the people who lived in the alleys be- 
tween, and they, many of them, thought they were shut in. 
A scene of the wildest excitement followed. Men were to- 
tally demoralized, women and children frantic with terror. 



COMMOTIONS AND ALARMS. 191 

They ran about wringing their hands, screaming and praying. 
This locality was chiefly occupied by negroes, and it was 
here that some of the most effectual as well as the most 
difficult work of the police was done in helping the men to 
organize and help themselves. They were successful in 
checking the progress of the fire in that direction. 

Indeed the police'worked well throughout. If one consid- 
ers what they had to accomplish, the force may be forgiven 
for their pardonable pride in that day's work. They were 
obliged to be everywhere, at one moment opening a way 
through the jam of vehicles on Charles and other streets, 
where the throng of those who had saved anything from 
their homes were trying to escape ; now acting as auxiliary 
to the Fire Department, saving property, watching suspicious 
characters, protecting life, doing all the thousand and one 
things a police force is hardly praised for attending to, but 
roundly blamed for neglecting. 

But in speaking of the efforts of the police it is certainly 
not intended to cast any reflection on the Fire Department, 
whose efforts were worthy of all praise. They acted like 
men, did their duty nobly and stuck to their work like 
heroes for a whole day under conditions that a stoker in a 
steamship furnace-room would consider unbearable for two 
hours. Theirs was the act of heroism, unrewarded, un- 
known ; the risk of life and limb, the endurance of pain that 
upon a battle field would make men immortal. 

And it must not be forgotten that the militia held them- 
selves in readiness to act in concert with the police, under 
command of the commissioners, in protecting property. 
For five hours the Sixth Infantry waited for orders at their 
armory, till it was decided that their services would not be 
needed. 

At the height of the trouble Washington's Fire Depart- 



1 92 BALTIMORE. 

merit sent two engines, with a full complement of men and 
entire equipment to Baltimore's aid. The train which bore 
these reinforcements made the run from Washington to 
Baltimore in the unprecedented time of thirty-nine minutes. 
Chief Cronin of Washington reported to Chief Spilman of 
Baltimore, who assigned the visitors to stations where they 
did most effectual work. 

About the same time Philadelphia sent a dispatch offer- 
ing aid in the way of engines and men, and the railroad 
companies were eager and persistent in their offers of trans- 
portation. The reply was sent to Philadelphia from Balti- 
more that the fire was under control and no further aid 
needed. Marshal Gray was tendered the services of a por- 
tion of the Washington police force, but our own boys 
proved themselves able to attend to all the work that the 
fire had cut out for them. 

I must not forget the fight that was made to save the 
Cathedral. Its dome is a ticklish place for a man to perch, 
and a-t a distance those who got up there to fight off the 
sparks that were blowing in all directions resembled noth- 
ing so much as flies on an orange. They might have well 
been flies from the manner in which they stuck to their 
footing, but they saved the Cathedral. 

There were in all one hundred and thirteen buildings 
destroyed and nearly a million dollars worth of property. 
Shortly afterwards a second fire did considerable damage 
in the very heart of the city, destroyed the Holiday Street 
Theatre, and very nearly consumed several other valuable 
buildings. 

At the time of this great fire I was Deputy Marshal under 
Marshal Gray. Of course the actual detail of the work of 
the force on this occasion fell under our personal super- 
vision. In keeping the men of the command at their work 



COMMOTIONS AND ALARMS. 193 

we found no difficulty, the chief thought being always how 
to employ their numbers and strength to the best advan- 
tage. The police worked in relays, and the food of those 
on the scene of action was brought to them from the cen- 
tral supply depot. 

There was less thieving and disturbance of the peace by 
lawless persons than might have been expected at such a 
time as that. 

I was captain of the Sou-th District at the time that the 
great flood occurred. Every one who was old enough to 
remember compared it with the flood of 1837, which swept 
away all the old bridges and damaged many houses, but that 
former visitation could hardly have done half the damage 
that the later one did. 

The four floods that Baltimore has experienced within the 
present century have all occurred between the early part of 
June and the latter part of August. The one in 181 7 took 
place on the 23d of August; that in '37 on the 14th of 
July ; the '58 flood on the 12th of June, and the last on the 
24th of July. 

During the week preceding the storm the weather had 
been excessively hot, the thermometer ranging as high as 
one hundred and one degrees in the shade. It is hard work 
to keep a police force in good working trim in such weather ; 
humanity, whether in plain clothes or blue coats, is de- 
pressed and enervated. 

The storm must have commenced a little while after mid- 
night or in the early morning of the 24th, judging by its 
effect and from the reports made in the morning, but the 
heaviest part of it certainly did not occur till about eight 
o'clock in the forenoon, and even then few people compre- 
hended what was in store. The first intimation I had of 



I'M 



BALTIMORE. 



any flood was when I went to the Marshal's office to report 
at the usual hour. The Marshal's office was opposite the 
present City Hall. The water was several feet deep on the 
floor when the captains arrived.' Judge of our astonish- 
ment to find that all that part of the city was flooded from 
the overflow of Jones' Falls, which had swollen in a very 
few hours to such unusual proportions. As there was then 
no danger along the Patapsco, which, being a much greater 
stream, did not respond to the cloud burst as readily as 
Jones' Falls, we of the Southern District were called upon to 
aid those in the flooded section. 

Already a great many people had moved or were moving 
their effects to a place of safety, for the weatherwise said 
that a south wind and a heavy rain portends mischief to 
those who live near Jones' Falls. 

But we found plenty to do of work for ourselves and em- 
ployment for the boats. There were all sorts of property 
afloat. One who has not seen a flood of this kind can 
form but little idea of the various kinds of goods and 
chattels that get adrift at such a time. Everything that 
would float was on the move. The water overflowed into 
Centre Market first, then into Swann and Hawk Streets. 
It rose rapidly about noon, pouring into streets which had 
previously been safe, and endangering both life and prop- 
erty. With all our efforts there were some lives lost, and 
a great deal of property destroyed, yet I think the police 
had nothing in the way of neglect of duty to reproach them- 
selves with upon that occasion. 

A car on the Gay Street line crossed the bridge and met 
the torrent at Saratoga Street, when it soon floated from 
the track. Driver and conductor got the horses unfastened 
and escaped by swimming them. The passengers, not able 
all of them to cret out of this strange ark, were carried 




13 

o 



COMMOTIONS AND ALARMS. 195 

down Harrison Street with it. Some of the occupants 
managed to climb out and save themselves by clutching at 
awnings and stanchions, but when the car was finally over- 
turned it carried with it several people who were drowned. 
Those who escaped with their lives were by no means free 
from injury. 

A ereat deal of our work lav at the intersection of Balti- 
more and Frederick Streets and in such places as that, 
where the torrent rolled like a river. The scene near the 
Maryland Institute beggars description, for there seemed 
to be the principal dumping-ground for debris ol all kinds. 
As a collector of curiosities the flood proved itself without 
an equal. Roofs, barrels, dead animals, bales of manufact- 
ured goods, furniture, vehicles, pieces of bridges and all 
manner of wreckage were deposited in a great heap in front 
of the Institute building. 

By one of the strange, unaccountable freaks of nature the 
flood had protected the Maryland Institute from destruc- 
tion by building a barrier against its own fury. 

A striking feature of his inundation was the way in 
which a new volume of \vi ter seemed to rush from some un- 
expected quarter like a tidal wave, and as the people fled 
from it, it would suddenly send a tide of back water in a new 
direction to cut oft retreat. One ma} - form some idea of 
the tremendous force of the water when it is recalled that 
entire houses were carried away bodily in one or two cases 
and wrecked in midstream. The site of the City Hall was 
a lake, Holliday Street a river, Marsh Market Space, Fred- 
erick Street, Gay Street and many others were cataracts, or 
rather sluices through which the streams roared and rushed, 
threatening and overturning and sweeping away. 

Telegraph communications were destroyed so that I had 
not been able to exchange intelligence with my district, but 



i 9 6 BALTIMORE. 

about five o'clock a messenger arrived to tell me that the 
Patapsco was up and my presence needed there. It is 
needless to say that I hurried over as fast as possible and 
found that it was as stated. The larger stream had at last 
risen and was doing its best to emulate the destructive 
work of Jones' Falls. Fortunately it had Light Street 
Bridge to beat against in some measure and against there 
it kept piling up wreckage of every conceivable kind. 
Much of the property was valuable and this we saved to a 
considerable extent and restored to the owners. The South 
District took in all of Baltimore south of Pratt Street and 
west of the basin ; several portions of this were completely 
inundated before the water went down. 

It was reported that one Harrison, the bridge-keeper, 
was secreting a good deal of the drift that came his way, and 
an investigation' proved the truth of this. Harrison was 
arrested and considerable property recovered. 

A miserable sight was presented by the lower part of 
Baltimore after the water receded and the full extent of the 
damage became apparent. Certain localities were hardly 
recognizable, since all that belonged to them seemed to 
have been carried away and a heterogeneous mass of rub- 
bish from somewhere else piled in its place. Street pave- 
ments and sidewalks were torn up and great gullies ap- 
peared, while in some cases the paving formed a mere shell 
which the water had undermined. 

Not only in the city but throughout Baltimore County 
the damage done was terrible. There was not a bridge 
that was not more or less damaged, and in most cases they 
were either carried totally away or else rendered unsafe 
or impassable. The only bridge that was uninjured was 
the Belvedere. This had stood for fifty years and it seems" 
as though it was beyond the power of a flood to destroy it. 



CHAPTER XII. 



GROVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHER. 




P and down Baltimore Street, men and 
boys were running. Past the closed 
stores and empty door-ways a crowd of 
people in Sunday attire were hurrying 
towards a point where a denser knot 
clustered around the fur store of Mr. 
Tiralla, the Italian fur merchant. Every one was asking 
of his neiehbor the cause of the disturbance, but few 
seemed to know more than the fact that something 
had occurred, or was about to occur, and they wanted to 
be there. 

Was it a fire? what had happened? — a man killed? 
where ? 

Two officers shouldered their way through the crowd, 
following the lead of a pale, excited young man and a phy- 
sician, into the doorway of No. 105 Baltimore Street, just east 
of the Sun building. Their faces wore that air of serious 
imperturbable attention to business which I believe is 
peculiar to policemen on special duty. Deaf to the in- 
quiries of the crowd they ascended the stairway, a few 



19S BALTIMORE. 

adventurous spirits following. Up one flight, a second, a 
third — then they paused at the door of Grove's reception- 
room — Grove, the photographer. There was nothing there 
and some one beckoned them on. Still another flight, and 
this time they entered the gallery with its scenery, chairs, 
cameras, head-rests and other paraphernalia. 

Still the object that they had sought was not there. 
Back of the gallery was another apartment where chemicals, 
graduating pans and bottles in confusion littered the table 
and shelves. At the door they paused again. It was 
very quiet in that room. Even the empty stores and the 
Sabbath inactivity of the streets before the crowd began to 
gather was nothing to the stillness that seemed to pervade 
the place. 

The officers entered and the few followers peered 
expectantly in at the door. There was the work-table be- 
tween the door and the window with a partly finished 
picture upon it, and beyond the table lay something that 
the policemen were bending over and feeling of. 

" He is quite dead," said Mr. Tiralla, from the hallway. 

" Shot," replied one of the officers. " Here is the bullet- 
hole in the back of his head." 

" Robbed," added the other. 

Then at a command from one of the men the onlookers tip- 
toed down-stairs again, as though they were still impressed 
by that awful stillness and were afraid they would waken 
him who, poor fellow, would never wake again. 

But at the street door they found their tongues. When 
was ever the time that men did not delight in being the 
bearers of news, good or ill ! 

"Grove, the photographer, is dead, has been killed, is 
king on the floor with his face turned up and his arms out- 
stretched and his hands clenched. There are two police- 



GROVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHER. [99 

men guarding the body ; he has been dead some time, and 
there is a blood) - footprint near the stairs." 

In 1865, just after the war, Baltimore was a much smaller 
place than it is at present, and every occurrence which con- 
tained such tragedy elements as this stirred the whole 
community. The theory of suicide was scouted at. Not 
only was the wound which had proved fatal in the back ol the 
photographer's head, but he had been robbed. It was a 
crime of the very vilest and lowest form — a murder for 
plunder, without the extenuating circumstances of provoca- 
tion or passion. 

That Grove carried a good deal of money and other 
property on his person many people knew, and his friends 
had warned him of the danger he incurred by doing so; 
but his answer always was that he liked to have it about 
him. His pocket-book often contained four or five hundred 
dollars, and he wore handsome diamonds, besides a watch 
that he was rather fond of displaying, which cost him one 
hundred and seventy-five dollars. 

Grove's place of business, as Mr. Tiralla could testify, 
was never closed on Sunday. There were people who 
found leisure to have their photographs taken upon that 
day who could not afford it on any other ; and then, it was 
a good time for finishing work. Quite a number of men 
were in the habit of dropping in there for a chat or a game 
of cards, and these knew his custom of carrying money 
about his person. 

An assistant, named Phillips, used to come in about one 
o'clock on Sundays, so that the photographer could go to 
his dinner. On the day of which we are speaking — it was 
in October — he ascended the stairs, glanced into the empty 
reception-room and found the gallery deserted. Seeking 
his employer further he found him as described. lie lay 



200 BALTIMORE. 

between the work-table and the window — near his hand a 
brush with which he had evidently just been working, and 
beside him an overturned chair. The wound in the back 
of the head, the unfinished work on the table, the position 
of the victim's body all showed that he had been foully 
assassinated from behind. 

A camera and lens used in taking ambrotypes was in po- 
sition in the outer room and evidently someone had been 
sitting for a picture. These things the assistant had no- 
ticed when he came in. The body of the dead man had 
been moved after he fell, for his money had been taken 
from his pocket, his watch and chain were gone, only leav- 
ing in the vest a gold bar which had been wrenched off by 
the thief in his haste, and the diamond pin had also dis- 
appeared. 

Phillips did not stop to take in all these details at once. 
Rushing down the stairs he roused Mr. Tiralla, who occu- 
pied with his family the second floor of the building, and 
breathlessly told his story, begging the fur merchant to go 
and guard the body while he went for a physician. 

When Mr. Tiralla reached the workroom a brief exami- 
nation convinced him that the physician's services would be 
without avail, as the victim was quite beyond medical aid. 

These then were the facts and the clews : Mr. Grove 
was accustomed to be in his place on Sunday ; he usually 
carried a considerable sum of money in his pocket, and had 
probably nearly one hundred and seventy dollars about him 
on the day of his death, since Phillips had seen him count 
that amount the clay before. He was shot in the back, 
while at work. 

Robbery had been committed, as well as the deeper 
crime ; someone knowing both the habits of the photog- 
rapher and the position of his rooms must have done the 



GROVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHER. 201 

deed ; there was a faint print of a bloody shoe near the door 
and the broken fastening of a watch chain. 

Of course the town was agog over this affair and every- 
one was willing to give testimony. The singular part of 
such an occurrence always is that somebody has some use- 
less bit of testimony to give afterwards. In this case two 
people in the neighborhood heard the shot and one was 
sure that it was followed by a groan ; but neither one of 
them, apparently, could spare time to investigate. The 
only possible value of such witnesses was to prove the time 
of the occurrence. 

Besides Phillips, Grove had had two other employes; one 
of these, a girl named Mattie Hull, and the other a youth 
called Clare, who had been for several weeks in Grove's es- 
tablishment, but who shortly before the catastrophe had 
left his employment preparatory to going to New York. 

Clare and Grove had been on the best of terms, having 
been acquainted prior to the former's engagement. They 
played cards together when work was over and chatted fa- 
miliarly about the people who came in and out of the place. 
Clare was also on good terms with Miss Hull, and paid her 
considerable attention, it was remarked. 

While everything was being done to track the criminal, 
whoever he might be, a young lady came to Grove's sister 
and handed her a package which disclosed, upon being 
opened, the diamond pin which was among the articles 
missed. Her story was a perfectly ready and straightfor- 
ward one. The pin had been loaned to her by Grove only 
a few clays before his death. This witness was taken to 
police headquarters and examined, but convinced the of- 
ficers that she could not have been in any way connected 
with the crime. Her name was withheld from the public. 
1 In -n another matter began to bo whispered. 1 ho dead 



202 BALTIMORE. 

man had had an enemy. There had been threats of harm 
to him from a quarter where he might expect it. It leaked 
out that he had been intimate with a woman who had for- 
merly been married, but who had been divorced from her 
husband. The man had threatened vengeance. Was this 
the result ? 

This young man was quietly sent for and appeared at the 
Marshal's Office. In reply to the request to show cause 
why he should not be arrested on the charge of killing 
Grove, he proved on the testimony of a girl (of the demi- 
monde) that at the time specified he was in church with 
her. Others also had. seen him there. This of course led 
to his immediate discharge. 

Then suspicion began to fix itself upon the missing Clare. 
On the day of Grove's death he had dined with his sister, 
announcing then his intention of going to New York that 
afternoon to visit a relative who lived on the Hudson river. 
A little later neighbors had seen him leave his sister's house 
and stop in an alley to wait for a negro who joined him 
there. To this person Clare handed a small black satchel 
and went on alone, his attendant following at a distance. 
Those who met Clare at this time said that he appeared 
very nervous. Later the young man bought a ticket for 
\\ ashington at Camden Station. 

The next step was to send someone to Washington and 
locate and shadow the fugitive there. This work was as- 
signed to Detective Smith, of the Baltimore force, who was 
aided by Washington detectives. 

After several days of fruitless search Clare's boarding- 
house was discovered, and also the fact that his time was 
spent in company with the low and vile in disreputable 
haunts. A man named Brown, who was apparently a friend 
of Clare's, was approached with caution by the detective, 



GROVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHER. 203 

who grained his confidence and was rewarded by finding" 
that he and Clare expected to go into business together, to 
keep a tobacco store. They were- then looking tor a suit- 
able place in which to carry on business. 

This was Smith's clue. He immediately announced him- 
self as a real estate agent, anxious to get a good tenant for 
some rooms which he was sure would exactly suit the now 
firm. At last, by skilfully pulling this string, the officer 
succeeded in getting Clare's whereabouts at the time. ( )ne 
of the detectives called with a letter of introduction from 
Brown and made arrangements to come- again. On Tues- 
day morning, early, before the family were out of bed, the 
officers called together, and after some parley and delay 
succeeded in getting to his room, where they at once- 
announced their errand. 

Fairly cornered, the young man showed by his manner 
that he was much disturbed, but in a little while regained 
his composure, while the officers searched the apartment. 
A small black satchel which was found under tin- bed, he 
swore was not his but had been left there by a colored 
woman of the house. It contained some papers tied up 
with a man's cravat. There was also a Smith and Wesson's 
four-chambered revolver, with one load discharged. Clare, 
evidently forgetting the ownership of the satchel, said that 
he had fired at a cat the nigrht before. No one had heard 
the shot however, and the condition of the barrel showed 
that the weapon had not been fired for at least a week. 
Then an unfinished photograph of himself was discovered. 
This he said had been taken by Phillips on the day before 
the slaying. This was true, as afterwards transpired. 

Clare had in his possession at the time of his arrest 
$41.00 in money. He was locked up for the time in the 
prison at 'Washington, while the watch and chain were being 



204 BALTIMORE. 

searched for. Before long the searchers were again upon 
the trail. The watch and chain had been frequently seen 
in Clare's possession, without the cross piece which should 
fasten the chain to the vest. He had accounted for it by 
various stories, announcing to one person that it was a gift 
from his father, and to another that he had won it in a 
wager, while a third was informed that he had purchased it 
in Philadelphia. All described the time-piece as an Ameri- 
can Waltham watch with heavy gold cases and a chain to 
match, minus the cross bar. 

Finally the chain was found in the possession of a man 
by the name of Conner, to whom Clare had sold it for $30.00. 
He had tried to sell the watch also, but wanted $100.00 for 
both and Mr. Conner concluded not to buy the watch, tak- 
ing only the chain. 

The oil-cloth upon which the blood-stained track had 
been found was preserved and Clare's boot corresponded 
very closely with the track — exactly, so far as could be as- 
certained, the print not being complete or well defined. 
The boot was placed in the hands of an expert microscopist, 
and in the sole between the pieces of leather was found a 
small clot of human blood. 

After long searching among the pawn shops of Washing- 
ton, the watch was at last found at the shop of William S. 
Goldenstein. The latter came to Baltimore after the pris- 
oner was brought here and fully identified him as the man 
who pawned the watch. 

The bar of the chain, found after the murder in Grove's 
vest, fitted to the chain and was identified by several parties 
as being the one which belonged to Mr. Grove. A jeweller 
in Carlisle, Pa., who had sold Mr. Grove both watch and 
chain, described them from his memorandum of the sale, 
eivine the number of the watch, the name of the maker. 



GROVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHER. 205 

Its mechanism was as he said it should be. He also de- 
scribed some marks on the chain by which it also was iden- 
tified. Upon being shown the watch and chain he identified 
them at once as the articles he had sold to Henry Grove 
three years before. 

Dr. John Stevensen went to Carlisle, Pa., where Grove's 
body had been buried, had it disinterred, and the bullet was 
dissected from the brain. It was found to fit the empty 
shell in Clare's revolver and was similar to those with which 
the other chambers were loaded. 

Clare's trial resulted, as every one expected it would, in 
the conviction of the prisoner. I say every one, yet I must 
except Clare himself, who had entertained strong hopes of 
getting off in spite of the remarkably strong circumstantial 
evidence against him. His lawyers immediately moved for 
a new trial, with the result that the decision of the first was 
reversed and the prisoner finally regained his liberty, only 
to drop into a life of settled evil, becoming what is known 
as a professional criminal. 

He was one whose chances in life were excellent. His 
family were respected and his early associations calculated to 
lead him right, but the devil of cupidity ruled and finally 
succeeded in ruining him. 

One of the most unprovoked crimes that ever stained the 
annals of our city occurred nine years earlier. James Din- 
gle, an industrious, quiet and inoffensive man, was shot on 
the steps of his own house in York Street, near Light. 
He had just returned from his work, and had set his two 
boys to sawing wood in the basement. The older boy 
grew weary of his work, left the sawing in the hands of his 
younger brother, and went out upon the street to join his 
playmates, who had kindled a bonfire there. Mr. Dingle 
stepped out of the house on to the sidewalk to summon 



2o6 BALTIMORE. 

him, when three men, Thomas Tower, John Roten and 
James Gruager, came up, spoke to him in a friendly man- 
ner, and one of them shook hands with him. Just at this 
moment one of the three fired a pistol at Dingle, hitting- him 
in the left temple, and causing him to fall to the pavement. 
The assassins then fled around the corner toward Hughes' 
quay. Dingle's eldest son recognized the men, having 
known them by sight for a long time. He gave informa- 
tion which led to the arrest of the parties a half hour later, 
in a drinking house near by, where they had gone and 
where they were apparently indifferent whether they es- 
caped or not. At the time of the arrest there was consider- 
able excitement among the rowdies about the wharfs and 
drinking houses, but the officers hurried their prisoners 
aloii"' and succeeded in locking them up before anv effort 
was made to release them. 

The scene at Dingle's home was a heart-rending one. 
The husband and father lay in bed hovering between life 
and death ; the wife and mother attending him, and doing 
what she could to comfort eight small children, who were 
beside themselves with grief at the dire misfortune that had 
fallen so heavily upon them. Dingle lived until noon the 
following da)- — most of the time in great suffering, and a 
part of the time unconscious. The bullet had fractured the 
skull, and passed completely through the brain to the jaw- 
bone on the opposite side of his head. 

The coroner's inquest brought out the additional facts 
that Dingle was fifty-eight years of age, that he worked 
around the docks, loading and unloading vessels, and doing 
such work as he could find there to do. About two weeks 
prior to the murder he was engaged in unloading a schooner 
lying at the wharf. He was left in charge of the schooner 
while the other laborers and the officers of the vessel went 



GROVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHER. 207 

to dinner. During- the hour two young men came on 
board and attempted to pass into the captain's cabin. 
Dingle told them they must not go in there in the absence 
of the captain. The young men then assaulted him, and 
tried to overpower him, but being a man of great strength 
he whipped both his assailants and drove them off the 
schooner. Dingle had mentioned the circumstance to sev- 
eral, but had not told the names of the men. It is supposed 
that Roten was one of them, and that he shot Dingle to 
avenge the pounding he had received on board the vessel. 

Mrs. Keyser, living next door, was looking out of the 
window at the time of the 511001111"'. She saw Dingle come 
down the steps, saw the three men approach, speak to 
Dingle, and "the tall one on the right" fire the pistol 
which caused Dingle's death. She also described the cloth- 
ing worn by the men, which tallied with that worn by the 
prisoners. 

The tragedy occurred at about eight o'clock in the even- 
ing. The moon was shining brightly, and the light was 
thrown upon the south side of the street, where the murder 
occurred. 

The alleged murderers were indicted by the Grand Jury, 
which was sitting at the time of the murder. They were 
arraigned in court, November iS, charged with murder in 
the first degree. The trial began December 2, in the 
Baltimore Criminal Court. The State's attorney tried the 
three men under one count, all at one time. This fact caused 
the ruling out of some testimony. The trial was closely 
contested, and occupied the court eight days. Most of the 
witnesses could not speak the English language, and the 
examination had to be conducted through an interpreter. 
When the case was finally given to the jury, they remained 
out. twenty-four hours, and announced that they could not 



2oS BALTIMORE. 

agree and asked to be discharged. The judge gave them 
further instructions and sent them back to wrestle with 
the case. In seven minutes they came back with a verdict 
of " Not guilty." It was understood that this was a com- 
promise verdict, and given by the jury simply to get free. 
They disagreed upon the point that they could not decide 
which one of the three fired the pistol. Tower was dis- 
charged, but the other two held to answer the charge of 
larceny, for which they had been indicted. 

On the evening of the 8th of June, 1868, trouble arose at 
Swann's Wharf among the calkers. On the previous day 
the white calkers had struck, and refused to work. A 
vessel from Bath, Me., was upon the dock, and the captain 
was in a great hurry to have the calking' done. A gang of 
negroes was employed, and James Granger was placed over 
them as "boss." Some time during the day of June 8, 
the white men decided to go to work. The negroes were 
then discharged, and the white men took their places. 
About six o'clock in the evening quite a crowd assembled 
in the vicinity, as it was generally understood that the 
negroes intended to give some of the white men trouble as 
they were leaving off work. There was considerable excite- 
ment, and pistols were in the hands of both parties. Gran- 
ger was urging the blacks on, and brandishing his pistol 
about as he did so. The men who were still at work, 
climbed down from the scaffolds. Granger noticed this, 
and stepped to the end of one of the scaffolds, pointing his 
pistol at Henry Hilderbrand. The latter supposing he was 
about to shoot him, " pulled his pistol " and shot Granger 
dead on the spot. Hilderbrand was arrested, and held to 
await the action of the Grand Jury. He satisfied them 
that he had acted only in self-defense, and was not in- 
dicted. 



GROVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHER. 209 

This was James Granger's end. Tower died a few years 
ago in the almshouse. Roten is still living. 

Henry Hilderbrand became a policeman August 17, 
1 8 jo. He was known to be a strong and fearless man. 
He was appointed to post duty at the Causeway, where the 
lower class of lewd women and the most abandoned men of 
the city congregated. During the first three years of his 
duty there he was roughly handled. Scarcely a night 
passed but that he was obliged to break up a fight between 
rough women and their dissolute visitors. When Hilder- 
brand appeared upon the scene, they nearly always turned 
upon him and a general fight ensued between the officer 
and those present. Hilderbrand was a man of pluck, and 
rarely ever gave up the fight until he got at least one of his 
assailants to the station-house. They soon learned that the 
plucky officer meant to do his duty, and the Causeway 
finally settled down into a quiet and orderly place. Once 
his arm was broken ; a number of times he was severely 
beaten, and once until he was unconscious and his assail- 
ants supposed him dead. Six or seven years ago he was 
made turnkey in the Eastern District, and, more recently, 
was retired on the pension list. He has been a brave, 
efficient officer. 

One of those singular and dramatic incidents which have 
about them a suggestion of design always, occurred during, 
or rather after, the trial of one McCurrey, who was con- 
victed of the crime of murder and robbery. The victim 
was McCurrey's roommate at the hotel where he was 
stopping. 

The docket was disposed of in some haste during 
the forenoon, and McCurrey called in to receive his death 
sentence. < 

The judge, placing the black cap upon his head, said a 



210 BALTIMORE. 

few words to the trembling wretch before him ; then very 
solemnly he repeated the words, " Prisoner, your time is 
short, improve it." As he uttered them, a bell, the strokes 
of which accorded well in their measured time with the 
judge's words, began to toll. There was an instant of sur- 
prise, of silence. It was noon, and the bells of the cathe- 
dral were chiming the Angelus. 

Where the name of Christ comes in the music the head of 
the poor wretch at the bar bowed, while the tears wet his 
cheeks. Then the judge concluded the sentence of death. 



CHAPTER XIII. 




i Vi-t^- BALTIMORE S 

s£L« ., .._ 



MILITARY I ) E K E X I ) E RS. 




N the days immediately following the war 
the militia of the state was re-organized 
under the title of the Maryland National 
Guards. Of the nine regiments which 
were formed, recruited and uniformed at 
that time the only survivor is the Fifth, 
which has been to Baltimore what the 
Seventh is to New York, and more. 

Messrs. J. Strieker Jenkins, Henry D. 
Loney, J. D. Lipscomb, S. O. Mcllwane, R. H. Conway 
and L. M. Catlett were its six sponsors, who met at Mr. 
Loney's office on Lexington Street on the 8th of May, 
1867, and then decided upon the organization of the regi- 
ment which has so thoroughly identified itself with the 
city's history ever since. 

The short sketch which I propose to give of this famous 
regiment is largely from personal observation and recollec- 
tion, supplemented and corrected, however, by reference to 
files and to the admirable history of the Fifth, written by 
Mr. George A. Meekins, one of the bright young journal- 



212 BALTIMORE. 

ists of Baltimore, and published with the sanction of the 
regiment's board of officers. 

The idea on which the Fifth was founded was that there 
were a number of veteran members of the former Mary- 
land Guard, who had seen active service and had graduated 
in the arts of war upon many a hot field, and that these, if 
brought into conjunction with spirited, though inexpe- 
rienced, youth, would infuse into the latter their soldierly 
qualities and benefit them by the results of their larger 
experience. 

A call for a meeting was issued through the mail to these 
veteran members of the old guard and in response a large 
number of them attended the meeting held at the Monu- 
mental Assembly Rooms at the corner of St. Paul and Cen- 
tre Streets on May ioth, the meeting being presided over 
by Captain Pennington. 

About ninety men enlisted at the outset. A committee 
of six, consisting of Messrs. Loney, Pontier, Herbert, Poe, 
Jr., Birckhead and Anderson, was appointed to manage the 
affairs of the new organization till the enlistment of one 
hundred men, the number agreed upon as the nucleus of 
the Regiment, was effected. 

Among the resolutions passed at this initial meeting was 
one providing" that the organization should be governed by 
the rules and by-laws of the Maryland Guard of Baltimore 
City so far as the same may be applicable to and not at 
variance with the laws of the state and general orders. 

The first difficulty which presented itself was that of pro- 
curing a suitable room for an armory. The new Fifth Reg- 
iment was the natural heir of the Maryland Guard, which 
had in its armory 350 minie muskets and sets of accou- 
trements. The second meeting of those interested was 
held on the evening of May 15th at Central Hall, on the 



BALTIMORE'S MILITARY DEFENDERS. 213 

corner of Charles and Baltimore Streets. Mr. L. Dublin 
presided and the work of organization was carried as far as 
possible. The one hundred limit being passed an execu- 
tive committee was appointed. 

While the special committee was prosecuting its search 
for an armory the embryo regiment continued to meet, 
through its executive committee, at Mr. J. D. Lipscomb's 
office on Lexington Street. 

The Music Hall on North Howard Street was the prop- 
erty of Mr. Charles M. Dougherty and upon this the com- 
mittee had fixed its eye, but the owner at first refused to 
consider any proposition to rent for less than five years, 
which was considered too long a time to pledge the regiment, 
till it was proved to be something more than an experiment. 

Mr. Dougherty then came down to three years, but this 
was still thought too great a risk to assume. While the 
committee wisely hesitated to take such a responsibility, 
Lieutenant (afterwards Colonel) J. Strieker fenkins came 
to the front and rented the building in his own name, mak- 
ing himself personally responsible. 

At once, after being thus housed in an armor)' far beyond 
the average, the Fifth began to grow very rapidly. Con- 
stantly enrolling new members, it soon received the endorse- 
ment of the State headquarters upon its action and at once 
proceeded to complete its military organization, electing 
the following officers : — 

Ci>. Captain. First Lieutenant. Second Lieut. 

A, J. Hanson Thomas, Jr., Julius H. Anderson, Chas. Krebs. 

B, Henry D. Loney, Louw M. Warfield, John D. Lipscomb. 

C, Thomas F. Billop, JVl! P. Caughey, Robert I'. Brown. 
I), Clapham Murray, Wm. C. Schley, Win. M. Pegram. 

E, McHenry Howard, J. Strieker Jenkins, E, F. Ponder. 

F, Win. S. Symington, Daniel G. Wright, Nelson Poe, Jr. 

G, Frederick M. Colston, A. J. Albert. Jr., Lennox Birckhead. 



214 BALTIMORE. 

Co. Captain. First Lieutenant. Second Lieut. 

H, Wm, P. Zollinger, S. O. Mcllwaine, E. D. McConkey. 

L, John W. Torsch, Robert S. Fowler, Fred'k A. Stewart. 

K, Ed. T. Jackson, J. E. H. Post, Wm. H. Symington. 

The first field and staff officers were Colonel, James R. 
Herbert ; Major, Harry D. G. Carroll ; Surgeon, Alan P. 
Smith; Assistant Surgeon, C. Shirley Carter; Adjutant, 
Thos. A. Symington ; Quartermaster, Benjamin W. Jen- 
kins. All of the officers were elected or appointed before 
midsummer arrived. 

Colonel Herbert was the first officer commissioned by 
Adjutant-General Berry. 

It was seen very soon that the idea which actuated the 
founders was a wise and practical one. The esprit de corps 
which it was hoped would be fostered made itself apparent 
from the very outset and the membership dues, fees and 
fines, which constituted the revenue of the organization, 
made each member feel a personal responsibility and inter- 
est in its success. 

With the reorganization of the militia the Fifth held the 
right of line. It was the last command started of the two 
new brigades, but upon the occasion of its first parade, 
when reviewed by Governor Swann on October 15th, 1867, 
it made a fine showing and even at that early day showed 
promise of the excellence in drill, discipline and soldierly ap- 
pearance which have since characterized it. The Fifth was 
at that time scarcely two months old, but it had ten com- 
panies and presented 457 muskets in line at this review. 

It was detailed for escort duty by General Perry, to- 
gether with the Second Regiment of infantry, which was 
under the command of Colonel Kalkman, and a company 
of cavalry. 

The division was in command of Major-General R. N. 



BALTIMORE'S MILITARY DEFENDERS. 215 

Bowerman, and consisted of cavalry, commanded by Major 
Snowden ; Major Berry's battalion of cavalry ; First Brigade, 
Brigadier-General James F. Cooper ; Second Brigade. 
Major-General R. H. Carr, and ten bands of music. The 
First Brigade comprised First Regiment, Colonel Wm. H. 
Hayward ; Second Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Kalkman ; 
Third Regiment, Colonel A. A. Stockley ; Fourth Reg- 
iment, Lieutenant-Colonel Clark ; and battalions of artillery, 
Major McNulty. 

The Second Brigade comprised the Fifth Regiment, Col- 
onel James R. Herbert ; Sixth Regiment, Colonel Robert 
C. King ; Seventh Regiment, Colonel Wm. H. Boyle ; 
Eighth Regiment, Colonel Benjamin G. Simpson ; Ninth 
Regiment, Colonel Joyce. Such a fine display of military 
strength belongs to the past. The red of the Zouave regi- 
ments, the blue of some of the others, and the gray ol the 
balance united in making a scene not easily forgotten. 

Through all the first year's work and expense the reg- 
iment passed safely. It kept before the public, which soon 
began to take a pride in it. Its first individual parade of 
moment occurred in the early part of December. 

Its band, under its auspices and led by Professor Rose, 
o-ave some very successful concerts, one especially attracting 
a good deal of attention as it was in aid of the yellow fever 
sufferers in the South. 

When the regiment was nine months old the ladies of 
Baltimore, who enjoy nothing so well as a patriotic action, 
presented it with a beautiful flag, which had been originally 
intended for the Maryland Guard. The scene chosen for 
this graceful act was the Concordia Hall, where the Fifth 
appeared with 500 men in line. 

Mr. S. Teackle Wallis was selected to make the presenta- 
tion speech, in the course of which he said : 



216 BALTIMORE. 

" I do not think I err in saying that every thread which 
glistens on the gorgeous folds before you was placed there 
by the hand of a Maryland woman. Indeed, knowing as 
1 do the ladies whose taste and skill adorned them, 1 am 
sure they would not have consented that a stranger silkworm 
should weave a web for them, if they could have found one 
which had fed on a Maryland mulberry. They have united 
in jour banner the emblems of State pride and of our Fed- 
eral nationality. Upon the one side you behold the eagle 
<if your country, soaring, as usual, through the fields of 
azure ; a valiant bird, but yet withal so modest, and so little 
used to adulation, that to come before its beak with praise 
were to provoke the terrors of its silken thunderbolts. Upon 
the other, you have the simple blazon of our good old State, 
—God bless her ! I hold no son of hers a man who is not 
proud to call her mother. Amid the grief and desolation 
war has brought upon us, it has bestowed at least this boon, 
that it has taught us all how much we have loved her. I can- 
not tell, as you can, if things that kindle the imagination of the 
quiet student are as apt to stir the souls of men in the grim 
hour of combat. And yet it seems to me that oftentimes 
the bosoms of her children must have thrilled with pride as 
the slogan of ' My Maryland ! ' arose upon the one side, .to 
feel that on the other the "Star-Spangled Banner,' a hymn 
of our own makingr, was the noblest answer that crave back 
defiance." 

When Mr. Wallis had concluded, the flag was formally 
received by Colonel Herbert. It was six by six and a hall 
feet large, made of heavy blue silk, gold fringed, and bore 
on one side the national seal, with the motto " E Pluribus 
Cfjzum" in gold. On the other side was the Maryland seal 
and the legends, "Presented by the Ladies of Baltimore" 
and " Maryland Guard, Fifth Regiment," were blazoned 



BALTIMORE'S MILITARY DEFENDERS. 217 

upon it. The response of the Colonel in receiving the flag 
was brief but appropriate. 

Three years after the organization of the Fifth Regiment 
one of those things occurred which have a notable influence 
in crystalizing public sentiment and it is worth recording, 
aside from its immediate interest, because of its significance 
in marking definitely the new feeling which was beginning 
to take the place of the bitterness of sectional prejudice. 

On its way to its first annual encampment at Cape May, 
on the Jersey coast, the regiment passed through the City 
of Brotherly Love, and its coming was heralded in a most 
unbrotherly way by a certain newspaper of Philadelphia, 
which took the occasion to perform that act which has since 
then come to be known as "waving the bloody shirt." 

The people of Philadelphia were indignant. They re- 
sented having such sentiments attributed to them. Had 
the paper in question been less violent in its objections it 
might have had some weight, or at least have failed to 
rouse any enthusiasm for the Baltimore men, whom it stig- 
matized as rebels, rioters and worse. 

As has been said the reception tendered the Fifth was 
perhaps warmer than it would otherwise have been, and 
another one of the Philadelphia papers in commenting on 
the matter afterwards remarked : 

"It the Maryland Regiment is composed of 'rebels and 
traitors,' as the Bulletin asserts, let us see more of Baltimore 
rebels and traitors. The frequent presence of such men 
would serve to teach some of our 'loyal' people good breed- 
ing in social life without doing any political harm. The 
courtesy extended to the Baltimore visitors by so many of 
our prominent citizens, irrespective of party, was very cred- 
itable to Philadelphia, showing, as we have said, that such 
papers as the Evening Bulletin cannot communicate their 



218 BALTIMORE. 

meanness of spirit to the people of this city. The attempt 
of that journal to excite prejudice and to prompt incivility 
to the Baltimore Regiment was a most signal and disgrace- 
ful failure." 

I may quote the words of the chronicler of the Fifth 
Regiment upon this subject. He says : " That the scurrilous 
attack on the Fifth gave a temporary stimulus to the spirit 
of fraternity there is but little room to doubt. Public sen- 
timent crystallized in Philadelphia into the opinion that 
charges of national disloyalty, flung in the most offensive 
manner at a regiment of whose personnel the assailant prob- 
ably knew little or nothing, laid the city itself open to the 
charge of being wedded to any lie that was couched in war- 
time phraseology. As a result, when the Fifth arrived in 
Philadelphia early in the morning of July 22d, they received 
an ovation which seemed to be the spontaneous tribute of 
nearly the entire people." 

There was one thing which distinguished this body of 
men at the very outset from most young regiments ; that 
was the fact that it appeared to be composed not of raw re- 
cruits but of veterans, and as a matter of fact it was largely 
so. There was a leavening influence from the start given 
by men to whom soldiering had long ceased to be boy's play. 

The Fifth visited Boston in 1875, and at their departure 
from the Hub there was certainly less sectional animosity 
than when they arrived. Maryland for the time became 
the guest of Massachusetts and a nearer acquaintance could 
not but destroy old enmities. Upon this ground, as one of 
the factors in the up-building of new and better relations 
between North and South, if for no other reason, the Bos- 
ton excursion was important. Another occasion remem- 
bered with pleasure was the fraternal meeting with the New 
York Seventh. But it was not to these holiday outings 



BALTIMORE'S MILITARY DEFENDERS. 219 

that the Fifth Regiment owed and still owes its claim to the 
pride and respect of Baltimore. 

When the city has been menaced by an internal mob, 
more terrifying to the populace and more threatening to the 
peace and safety of the city than an invading army would 
be, the men in gray were the first to respond to the call to 
act in concert with the men in metropolitan blue in its de- 
fence. The value of the steady, cool, soldierly ranks that 
stood to their work in the hot days of the Cumberland riots 
cannot be over-estimated and I would be the last to under- 
state it. 

I have in another place spoken of this valuable service 
to Baltimore. For a regiment to swing into action under 
the stimulus of a boundless enthusiasm, incited by feelings 
which can only find expression in daring deeds, is no doubt 
a noble and instructive spectacle and one which Marylanders 
have more than once given to the world, but to take the 
threats and missiles of a mob calmly and coolly, showing 
that restraint and obedience to discipline which is infinitely 
more difficult, is an exhibition of manliness not often seen. 
It was witnessed by those who had the pleasure of seeing 
the Fifth at work during the riots of '77. 

When the Maryland Legislature passed, in 1886, a law 
reorganizing the National Guard oi the State and putting 
it upon a more efficient footing, it provided for the enroll- 
ment of a number of men which should bring the total to 
not more than two thousand two hundred and eight) - men, 
included in not more than thirty-two companies. These 
were to form one brigade, comprised of the First and Fifth 
Regiments, the Baltimore Liyht Infantry, the Second Bat- 
talion, Third Battalion, several detached companies and 
three colored companies. 

The important clause in the bill is that which provides 



220 BALTIMORE. 

that the men composing the brigade shall be regularly en- 
listed for a period of three years, each member being entitled 
to his dismissal after that period has elapsed if he chooses 
to retire. 

In this and in all other respects the effort has been to 
conform as nearly to the United States army regulations as 
the circumstances of a state militia will permit. Even the 
uniforms are intended to conform to this creneral resem- 
blance. 

An interesting detail, which has often been noticed, is the 
peculiar long, swinging, marching step that the Fifth Reg- 
iment has adopted. It is well calculated to tire out any 
other organization, not similarly trained, with whom it may 
happen to parade. Its origin dated to the clays when the 
Second Infantry of General Stonewall Jackson, in the Con- 
federate army, showed how valuable a thing celerity may 
be in a campaign or upon the battle-field. 

At present there is another regiment here, the Fourth, 
which has recently been reorganized from the Fourth Bat- 
talion. The Fourth Battalion was formed in 1877 of a 
number of separate independent organizations', the First 
Regiment and companies in other Maryland towns. H. 
Kyd Douglas, formerly colonel of the First Regiment 
and now Adjutant-General, effected the reorganization by 
which the battalion ceased to exist and those companies 
which were in Baltimore or its immediate neighborhood were 
consolidated into a single regiment for greater efficiency. 



CHAPTER XIV. 




BANKING EXTRAORDINARY. 

NY man might be expected to win more 
than a competency in honest trade with 
the amount of skill, perseverance and 
shrewdness that it takes to make a thief. 
This is doubly true of the successful 
foroer and bank thief, whose calling not 
only demands the exercise of superior 
gifts and requirements, but whose nerves 
must be perfect and manner almost faultless. 

The robber may work in the dark and rely somewhat at 
least, upon the exercise of mere Drute force to accomplish 
his purpose, but the men of the Brockway or Becker type- 
must be wise organizers and in addition be gifted with a 
knowledge of human nature and learn the customs and terms 
of the financial world. 

A few years ago the Merchants' and Third National 
Banks of Baltimore were the object of a careful and skillful 
attack by one of the coolest, shrewdest criminal operators 
the world has ever known, who with his gang of expert 
thieves and "layers down" came to Baltimore in iSSo;a 



222 BALTIMORE. 

compliment which the Monumental City could well have 
dispensed with. 

Charles C. Brockway might have been almost anything 
he chose but for that unknown quantity in every evil life 
which we perhaps may best call a bias toward crime. He 
was an expert operator and preferred forgery to the exer- 
cise of his great talent in any other direction ; he was some- 
thing of a chemist and devoted his knowledge solely to the 
fraudulent imitation of inks and paper; he was a general 
who preferred to lead men into mischief and organize crime. 
As a student of men, with a lawyer's tact and a soldier's 
courage, Brockway has won for himself an unenviable 
notoriety as one of the most notable cases of the perver- 
sion of great gifts which this countrv has ever produced. 

The career of this notorious thief began in New York 
City, which was his birthplace. Before he was of age he 
was branded ; the police knew him and detectives thought 
him worth watching. Already he was acquainted with the 
inside of prison cells and was without shame or pride. It 
is a curious commentary on our vaunted civilization that the 
sons of many rich men enjoy all the advantages that money 
can pay for, of liberal education and special training, only 
to be outstripped in knowledge and authority by some 
unfortunate youth whose schoolroom was the street, whose 
literature the "penny dreadful" journal, whose playground 
was the steps of the city prison and whose heroes went 
periodically into retirement behind the bars. 

There is one thing which a boyhood and youth like that 
of Brockway does not cultivate, the one necessary thing 
without which all other requirements are useless ; that is, 
character. And yet there must have been in him some of 
the disposition which under happier circumstances goes to 
make character, for while dictatorial and decided in his 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY. 223 

government of those associated with him, we do not find 
any record of a case where he ever deserted a companion 
or failed in the obligation of " thieves' honor." 

In more than a quarter of a century of crime he made him- 
self the possessor of more than half a million dollars of 
other people's money, hut the details of his rascally busi- 
ness entailed enormous expenses and the support of a 
number of aids or accomplices, so that in the end it may be 
questioned, even on the lowest basis, whether the business 
paid. 

The " Brockway gang " consisted of Bell, Wilson, Clean, 
Bartlett, Havill, Ogle and Fogerty. These men gathered 
around their chief as wolves band together for mischief. 
He knew how to handle them, to win their admiration and 
retain their obedience. He became a law to these law 
breakers and sent them to execute his plans in most of the 
large cities of the Western world. Bell had been a sneak 
thief. The Eastern Pennsylvania penitentiary knew him 
well. Wilson, Geary, Bartlett, were all robbers who had 
made themselves infamous in one way or another. Most 
of the gang had operated in England with notorious crim- 
inals there and knew the world. 

After various experiences, now as the dealer of a faro 
bank and again as an "operator" of forged paper, Brock- 
way in 18S0 planned for his accomplices a raid on Baltimore. 
Perhaps the impression had gotten into his mind that the 
banking institutions of the Monumental City were so used 
to dealing with a conservative class of people that their 
officials would be less apt to suspect fraud. However that 
may have been, he sent Barren' to Baltimore with a good 
$50 bond which he sold to J. Hermanns Fisher & Co., the 
bankers on South Street. The initial step showed wisdom 
on the part of the operators. In the first place the cheque 



224 BALTIMORE. 

of an individual customer of any bank would not do for a 
large amount of money, being much more apt to be scru- 
tinized with suspicion than that of a banker whose operations 
in money would naturally be larger and more frequent. 
rhen, too, Farren was careful to make his sale about the 
middle of the forenoon when many other buyers and sellers 
would materially lessen his chance of being remembered. 

Armed with the cheque of this well-known firm the con- 
federate returned to the chief, who chuckled as he examined 
it. It was a well-engraved device, made by A. Hoen & Co , 
but its delicate lines and coloring only made it more inviting 
to the forger, whose pleasure in a fine piece of work was, 
like that of all artists, paramount. 

In New York C. C. Brockway had secured a place which 
should answer him as a workshop and there, unsuspected 
and busy, he devoted himself to the preparation of spurious 
paper. Well he knew that what he was doing was only 
possible to a few of the most skillful men in the country. 
Oh, if he could only exhibit that work and hear men praise 
it ! Well, after all, an unconscious compliment would be 
paid to him whenever Fogerty or Cleary or Bell should pass 
that product of art through a teller's window. 

Fogerty returned to Baltimore and, following the same 
innocent plan by which he had gained the Fisher cheque, 
brought to Brockway others signed by Messrs. Middendorf 
& Co. and D. Fahnestock. These were, like the first, care- 
fully copied and no point of difference could be detected 
between the copies and the originals — except in the amounts 
for which they were drawn. 

Just at the time when this preliminary work was all com- 
pleted two skillful operators returned " dead broke " from 
an unsuccessful tour abroad and offered to the chief just 
the materials he wanted to work with. These men were 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY. 225 

Ogle and Havill. They readily fell into his plans and con- 
sented to his terms — one-half of the gross receipts of the 
venture to the leader and organizer. 

In the middle of July, 1880, this precious company of 
criminals arrived in Baltimore. 

The first thing which these scamps did on reaching their 
destination was to get the necessary cheque numbers and 
private marks so that they could immediately victimize one 
of the banks. In order to do this and to procure signatures 
which might be of value Cleary was sent out to Fisher & 
Co.'s and offered a $100 United States 4 percent, bond for 
sale. He was paid partly in cash and parti)- in a $54 
cheque on the Merchants' National Bank, payable to George 
Hunter. Then at D. Fahenstock's he repeated this opera- 
tion and got one of his cheques. Next he or one of the 
others obtained signatures and cheque numbers for the day 
of Middendorf & Oliver. Thus equipped the chief rapidly 
completed his forgeries, which had simply waited for these 
last touches. Cleary and Fogerty bought back in the 
afternoon the bonds they had sold in the morning, so as to 
remove all traces of their steps. 

The first bank approached was the Third National. 
Cleary was the one selected to "lay clown" a spurious 
cheque for the amount of $1,394. It was refused on the 
ground that the paying-teller did not know "Geo. W. Kim- 
ball," to whose order it was drawn, and required to have 
him identified. Cleary retired and in a few minutes was 
back with the endorsement of Messrs. Middendorf & 
Oliver on the back of the paper. This was satisfactory and 
the money was paid. The fact that Brockway acted as 
special clerk for Middendorf & Oliver on this occasion 
was not suspected. 

The Merchants' National Bank was done for alike amount 



226 BALTIMORE. 

just before closing time and the money paid. Then the 
conspirators hurried to finish one more job. At their lead- 
er's order Wilson rushed around to the Third National again 
and reached it just as the teller was leaving his desk. By 
dint of persuasion, urging his immediate need for the money, 
he persuaded teller Medairy to let him have the cash, the 
latter not comprehending that he had been deceived and 
over-reached until he went to balance his accounts for the 
day when a deficiency convinced him that he had over-paid 
the last comer. 

Hastening to the office of Messrs. Middendorf & Oliver 
he asked for the address of the stranger, only to be informed 
that they knew no such person and had given no cheque 
answering the description of the one in question. The un- 
fortunate teller was shocked, chagrined, confused. His 
rest that night was broken and nervous. Once more on 
the morning of |uly 17th operations were resumed and 
again the Merchant's Bank was the victim and loser, the 
sum this time being $2,160. Still the gang stayed and at- 
tempted the Western National Bank, but the teller there 
refused absolutely to cash the cheque presented, even after 
it was graced by Mr. Fahenstock's signature on the back, 
his ground being that he never departed from his rule to 
refuse favors of this kind to people who were personally 
unknown to him. Later in the day this fortunate gentle- 
man, apprehending that Mr. Fahenstock might be offended 
at the refusal should the matter come to his ears, went to 
the office of the firm to explain matters and there learned 
the true state of the case. 

The neat sum of $3,901.50 was the profit of Bell's next 
visit to the Merchant's Bank. The money order offered 
was apparently from the office of J. Harmanus Fisher and 
it happened that Mr. Fisher's clerk was present when it was 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY. 227 



1 1 



presented. The teller showed it to him and he affirme 
that it was all right. Bell betrayed no confusion at this 
moment though he must have felt a strong desire to be on 
the other side of the bank door just at that moment. 

At noon time Mr. Morris discovered the fraud. Major 
Douglas H. Thomas, the cashier of the Merchants' Bank 
at the time, was informed and before long the town was 
aware of the presence of the thieves, or rather that they 
had been in Baltimore, for by the time that the news was 
circulated Brockway and his company had departed with 
about $ 6,000 as the fruit of their rascally industry. 'I he 
tellers of the different banks compared notes, the detectives 
sent out from headquarters ransacked the town and found 
no clue to the perpetrators of the swindle and every one 
was at a loss to know what to do. At this juncture a let- 
ter from Philadelphia informed Major Thomas that George 
Bell and Henry Cleary were the guilty parties. lie might 
have said, as did the clergyman when some one alluded to 
his Satanic majesty, " I have not the honor of the gentle- 
man's acquaintance." But he followed the clue patiently 
and carefully and commenced a still hunt, in which Inspector 
Byrnes, of New York, had also a share. Step by step, clue 
by clue the indefatigable cashier and his assistants worked 
until they had succeeded in bringing their game to bay in 
the metropolis and then arresting them, all but the chief, 
Brockway, and his tool, Havill, who had made their escape. 

The Baltimore tellers who had come in contact with the 
prisoners were sent for and fully identified them, and thus 
the first act in the play closed. 

There was still greater difficulty in securing the extradi- 
tion of the thieves. 

I went to New York City when Bell and Cleary were ar- 
rested to secure their extradition ami that of their companions. 



22S BALTIMORE. 

But Cleary slipped through our fingers for a time in this 
way : he had been arrested previously in Albany for a crime 
committed there, but had not been condemned, the trial 
lagging for lack of evidence or some other cause. When 
the Baltimore matter came up Cleary thought two years in 
the Albany penitentiary preferable to five in a jail in Mary- 
land. So his friends revived the old charge and he aided 
and abetted in securing his own condemnation. However, 
the trick did not work quite as well as he expected, for 
while he was removed from our hands for that time yet I 
was on hand the clay that he was released and meeting him 
the moment he stepped out, a free man, had him under 
arrest on the old charge. 

Bell's case was not at first an easy one to handle. He 
had money with which to fight and as long as it lasted he 
did all that was possible, through able lawyers, to interfere 
with our plans. He not only spent his own money but his 
companions contributed generously to his defence. At 
length, however, funds ran low and then Brockway went to 
Providence to acquire there the sum necessary to continue 
the fight. The failure of his plans in that city, his detec- 
tion and arrest cut off all hope of supplies from that quarter 
and the sponge was immediately thrown up, whereupon I 
returned to Baltimore with my prisoner. 

In August, 1880, about the 10th of the month, two stran- 
gers visited the city of Providence, R. I., and calling at the 
banking-house of Henry C. Cranston, sold a hundred dol- 
lar United States bond, asking that a cheque be given 
them in payment rather than cash, as the money was 
wanted to pay bills then due. A similar proceeding then 
took place at Messrs. Chase, Watson & Butts'. The cheques 
were sent to New York and fac-similed, even the United 
States stamp being properly affixed. In some way one of 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY. 229 

Pinkerton's men became cognizant of the fact and at once 
reported to the office, where it was not only decided that 
some one was trying to work Providence, but that that some 
one was probably Brockway. There was a peculiarity, a 
masterly finish, so to speak, about his method, which dis- 
tinguished it from those of an ordinary thief and it was as 
easy for the police at that time to recognize his hand in an 
operation as it would have been years ago for the protec- 
tors of the peace in old England to recognize the handi- 
work of Paul Clifford. In fact Brockway was never long- 
out of the sight of the detectives and had but a short time 
before completed a term for forgery in Chicago. 

It was necessary to find a detective who knew Brockway 
but who was not known by him, and Gaylor, one of the 
brightest men of Pinkerton's force, was the man chosen to 
o;o to Providence and block the former's i/ame. 1 If at 
once reported to Chief of Police Hunt, in that city, and 
was given every facility for prosecuting his work. The 
cheques which had been obtained by Brockway and his 
accomplice were on the old National Bank and the Fourth 
National Bank of Providence. 

On Weybosset Street an office which commanded a 
view both of Mr. Cranston's place of business ami the old 
National Bank was rented by Mr. Gaylor. and there he sta- 
tioned himself while Detective Parker and Officer Simonds, 
who were to work with him, were given their post in the 
Fourth National Bank. Gaylor did not succeed, nor did 
his assistants, in discovering anything during the first week 
of their watch. The former showed his keenness of judg- 
ment in his estimate of the time that Brockway would prob- 
ably take in proceeding with his work. His theory was 
that the attack upon the banks would commence late Satur- 
day afternoon and this opinion he based upon former oper- 



230 BALTIMORE. 

ations of the same kind. He knew that it would take a 
certain length of time to do the necessary engraving and 
preliminary work, and he knew, moreover, that Brockway 
would not follow his first step too closely for fear of recog- 
nition. The detective argued wisely then, when he fixed 
Saturday afternoon as the probable time for the next step. 
He told the bank officials not only when they might look 
out for the common enemy, but also what his method 
would probably be. Sure enough, on Saturday afternoon 
about an hour before the time for closing, the watch was 
at last rewarded by the appearance of suspicious charac- 
ters who went into each office with United States bonds for 
a hundred dollars each, similar to the ones previously offered, 
and, as before, objected to receiving cash and asked for 
cheques. In each case the cheque was given as re- 
quested. The same plan precisely had so far been fol- 
lowed in Providence as in Baltimore. The cheques were 
gotten at as late an hour as possible in order to have the 
numbers nearly up to date, so that the forged ones might 
be as perfect as possible and escape detection. While 
Brockway's henchmen were engaged under his direction 
that gentleman himself was stationed on the street near 
Cranston's, between there and the old National Bank, and 
fell under the vigilant observation of the detective in his 
little watch-tower. When Brockway was first seen he was 
alone, but was soon joined by two men whose actions at 
once told Gaylor that he had not been mistaken. He was 
as fully assured of every step in the game already played as 
though he had seen the United States bonds passed over 
the counter at Mr. Cranston's or Messrs. Chase, Watson 
cc Butts', and the cheques stowed away in the pockets of 
the thieves. More than that, he looked ahead and saw 
that the conspirators would probably go to some other city 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY. 231 

over Sunday and there get all their paper in readiness for 
the beginning of an active campaign on Monday morning, 
which they did. 

So when Monday morning came the Pinkerton represen- 
tative and his Providence associates were on the look-out. 
The work which they had undertaken was not easy or safe, 
because the men with whom they had to deal were known to 
be desperate characters, who, if given the slightest oppor- 
tunity, would resist any effort made to arrest them, to the 
extent of their ability. Xo one could be sure when the 
cheques might be presented and therefore they were con- 
stantly on the alert. Gaylor still kept his look-out and his 
assistants their posts waiting anxiously for a signal : very 
much as the fisherman of the Northern lakes waits for the 
movement of the little flag which he has placed above an 
ice-hole to show when the fish below has taken the bait. 
It was an exciting time for the detective, not only for the 
interest which he naturallv took in the eame, but because 
of the fact that his professional reputation depended some- 
what upon his success in what would be recognized as an 
important case. So far he had acquitted himself well and 
he did not wish to have his quarry escape at the last mo- 
ment. 

The unforeseen is the thing which is said always to hap- 
pen, but the trained detective recognizes that for him there 
should be no unforeseen, and yet so carefully had all the 
plans been laid on this occasion that it seemed almost im- 
possible that there should be any slip. So quietly had the 
detective's work been done that even the newspapers sus- 
pected nothing. On Monday morning at about half past 
ten o'clock, a cheque for thirteen hundred and twenty-seven 
dollars, signed by Chase, Watson & Butts and made pay- 
able to Joseph Cook, was presented at the paying teller's 



23 2 BALTIMORE. 

window of the Fourth National Bank. Detective Parker, 
who had been provided with a cheque to be used at just 
such a time, stepped up with it immediately behind the 
stranger, as if he was there simply upon business, and so 
got an opportunity to scrutinize the man closely and also 
to see the order which he presented. The man was asked 
if his name was Joseph Cook and he affirmed that it was, 
upon which the money was counted out to him. As he 
was picking it up, congratulating himself upon his success 
and no doubt feeling the sudden relief from anxiety, De- 
tective Parker quietly and deftly ornamented his wrists 
with the bracelets. The thing was clone so neatly that 
those in the bank at the time could hardly have been 
aware of it. Upon the receipt of a message brought by 
Symonds, Mr. Gaylor hurried to the spot, and, as he had ex- 
pected, found Brockway waiting outside of the bank and 
wondering at the delay of his confederate. Gaylor stood 
as close to him as he possibly could without being detected 
and kept his eye on him for nearly five minutes. By the 
end of this time Brockway showed signs of nervousness, and 
fearing that he might make his escape without waiting as 
he had intended to do till an attack was made upon the 
other bank, the offieer put him under arrest. It was a com- 
plete surprise and the forger made no resistance whatever, 
in fact he took the affair rather eoolly, simply informing the 
detective that he had made a mistake. There was only 
one little thing which occurred when he and Cook were 
searched, and that was that Brockway endeavored to con- 
ceal a small piece of paper by swallowing it, but it was in- 
tercepted and found to contain one or two simple memor- 
anda concerning banking houses in the town. The man 
Cook, who was arrested first, was supposed to be either 
( >gle or Havill. It proved that he was the latter. Still 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY. 233 

another accomplice was suspected to be in the field, and 
although there was every reason to believe that he would 
be alarmed and leave the city at once upon the arrest of 
his companions, yet Gaylor had no idea of leaving his work 
with any ragged ends and so kept a sharp watch for the 
third thief. He was not disappointed. At the counter of 
the old National Bank a cheque for twelve hundred and 
sixty-four dollars, signed by Mr. Cranston, was presented 
at about half past twelve o'clock. The cashier of the 
bank was Mr. F. A. Cranston and he told the man at once 
that he must get the cheque certified, upon which he started 
out to find Brockway. He was followed by the cashier 
and met by Mr. Gaylor upon the stairs. The man was 
not then arrested, but upon the opposite side of the street 
Mr. Gaylor spoke to him and asked some questions, upon 
which the fellow got nervous and started to run. He was 
pursued by Mr. Gaylor, who was almost immediately joined 
by Officer Vaughan and the constable employed around the 
Post Office. Others joined in the hue and cry and to help 
matters along a pistol was discharged by some unknown 
party. At the last moment, just as the thief put his hand 
to his hip pocket, Mr. Gaylor grabbed him and took from 
him what instead of a pistol proved to be a large pocket- 
book in which was the cheque which he had presented at 
the counter of the bank. 

The criminal broke away again and was re-captured by 
his chief pursuer near Crawford Steet Bridge a few mo- 
ments later, and with the assistance of Constable Keenan 
was taken to the City Hall. A search discovered a certified 
cheque, identical in all respects to the one already found. 
This, like the documents which led to Major Andre's exe- 
cution, was hidden in his boot. These cheques upon ex- 
animation proved to be forgeries in every respect, not only 



234 



BALTIMORE. 



the signatures and stamps but the printing and ink also 
being counterfeit of the ones obtained from the Providence 
bankers. 

Brockway was a man of forty-seven years of age, with 
full beard slightly tinged with gray and the aspect and man- 
ner of a cool, capable business man. His assistants, al- 
though men of good presence in several cases, were not by 
any means his equal in general appearance. 

When arraigned before the Court of Common Pleas to 
stand his trial for forgery Brockway, who had given his 
name as Chester C. Brockway, denied that that was his 
name or that he had given it. He pleaded hard for a post- 
ponement of trial, which was not granted. He then de- 
clared that he had no defence. Finally the trio captured in 
Providence received their sentence. Brockway got eight 
years and Cook and Somers respectively four and three 
years in prison. Brockway broke down at the last and 
wept, saving that his sister was lying at the point of death. 
Cook declared that he was innocent and did not know the 
others, while Somers simply answered that he had noth- 
ing to say except that he had come to the bank for the 
purpose of presenting the cheque. 



CHAPTER XV. 



BANKING EXTRA! IRDINARY — O iXTIXUED. 




HAVE spoken of Brockway as one of the 
coolest, shrewdest criminals the world has 
known. He had perhaps his superior in a 
German-American named Becker, whose 
life was a succession of melodramatic inci- 
dents such as are seldom matched on the 
stage, and whose generalship was not only 
admired by the thieves with whom his 
career was linked, but acknowledged by every detective in 
the world. 

Becker made no distinctions of country or language. 1 le 
was as cosmopolitan in his habits as he was masterly in his 
methods. He operated in England and on the continent 
of Europe with one of the best organized gangs that ever 
planned and executed a campaign against property. Not 
content with London and Paris, Berlin and Elorence, he 
tasted the pleasures of Constantinople ami knew the; iiiNidr 
of a Turkish jail. His flight from the domains of the Sul- 
tan was as full of excitement and of a certain kind of dash 
as the hungriest devourer of dime novels could desire, and 



236 BALTIMORE. 

the desertion of a pal in the prison he escaped from and the 
suspicion of his subsequent connivance in the murder of 
that comrade's wife in England, when it was feared that she 
would betray the gang, are only incidents that ought to 
satisfy the sentimental. 

Becker's account of the escape from the prison at Con- 
stantinople may be told in his own words, as given to a 
newspaper reporter : 

" The jail at Smyrna was a poor affair, made of mud walls, 
and we could easily have gotten out of it. It was the coun- 
try that held us and not the jail. We could not get out 
of the country. The Government, lacking confidence in 
the jail, shipped us to Constantinople, where we were put 
into a prison of the old-fashioned sort, with walls four feet 
thick, solid cell doors and cast steel grate-bars an inch and 
a half square, and of this seclusion we soon tired. The clay 
that Elliott and I were gathered in at Smyrna, Siscovitch 
was convicted at Constantinople. After our removal there, 
we fell into each other's company. When we planned to 
get out Mrs. Siscovitch came and helped us out. It hap- 
pened in this way. The cell doors locked with tags and 
iron bolts, and though it had its key, there was a general 
key that fitted all of them. A key like that was useful, 
and it was by a mere accident that we got one. One day 
the prison marshal came rushing in to have a prisoner sign 
some papers and rushed out again, leaving his key sticking 
in the lock. We were not long in getting- an impression of 
the key and putting it back in the lock again. 

"After getting the shape of the key we had Mrs. Sisco- 
vitch bring us some files, Turkish caps and three lanterns. 
These she smuggled in, concealed in her clothing. Chap- 
man, Elliott and I were in one cell and Siscovitch around 
the corner of the corrider with some sailors in another cell. 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY— CONTINUED. 237 

I was the last man to be shut up at night, so when we were 
all ready and had put enough rope where it was needed, I 
slipped around the corner and unlocked Siscovitch and then 
went back to be locked up. About midnight, when the 
'■aiards were snoring: he got up and unlocked our door. 
Chapman was asleep. Did we wake him ? Not much. 
He'd have hollered murder if we had. We went out and 
steered for the storeroom where our clothes were piled 
away. We broke this open, got our clothes, found our 
way into the prison-yard and sized up the wall. It was 
forty-two feet high, but fortunately there was a grating 
over the top of the gate and our rope was ready. We 
boosted little Elliott up on the archway, and as luck would 
have it he stepped on the wire of the prison bell leading into 
the room where the keeper's head-clerk slept and set it to 
jingling in a way that froze us stiff. The jig looked up if 
ever it did. We had lots of fun with that bell. The wire 
ran under the cell window on its way. and we used to hitch 
a bent pin to a string and fooled him man}- times by setting 
her to going. 

" It was lucky we had fooled him in that way so often. If 
the bell woke him he concluded it was another joke and 
went to sleep again. We waited 15 minutes for some one 
to come and catch us and then went at it again. The rope 
was weighted with a block of wood and we threw it over 
the wall to catch it at the grating, and by fastening it there, 
we were able to climb to the top. There was enough rope 
besides that to reach to the ground, and we scrambled down 
to run into more trouble. We woke up about sixty Mo- 
hammedan dogs, who had been snoozing peacefully in the 
shadow of the wall. I never heard curs bark louder ; but 
they brought no one. Sliding down the rope Elliott 
dropped the matches and we could not light our lanterns. 



23 S BALTIMORE. 

We all three got down on the ground and hunted. By- 
and-by we found one brimstone match and lighted up. 
The dogs stopped howling then. They do not howl at 
people who are properly illuminated, and we traveled on to 
find the apartments which Mrs. Siscovitch had engaged. 
While hunting around we heard the rapping of watchmen's 
ni'^ht-sticks and dropped into an all-night cafe filled with 
Greeks, where a band was playing, had some coffee and 
stayed until morning. Half a dozen of the watch came in, 
but they did not know us. We were pretty well disguised 
and topped off with fezzes. Finally we got settled with 
Mrs. Siscovitch, but one day she glanced out and saw the 
cavasse or interpreter from the American Consulate, and 
the porter who brought her baggage to the place, staring 
straight at the house ; then we knew they were after us, 
and did not wait five minutes. We went out and hired a 
cab, not knowing which way to go, but telling the man to 
drive toward the English Cemetery. There we stopped at 
a cafe and were sitting over our wine, wondering what was 
next to be done, when a man came up who had seen Sis- 
covitch tried. He knew us, took us to his home and cared 
for us three months. I sent Elliott to England for some 
money I had there and when it came we went to London 
also. We made our friend a good present and he saw us 
safe over the border. 

" Mrs. Siscovitch was arrested and held for awhile, but got 
off and rejoined her husband in London. I gave them funds 
to get to America and supposed they had gone. Both Elliott 
and I went to board with Mrs. Chapman — I'd known her 
for years- -and Elliott left his things there when he went to 
the Orient. She never felt angry with us for leaving her hus- 
band in the crib. She knew that he had no courage. His 
giving us away was to gain commutation time. Now 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY— CONTINUED. 239 

about the murder. I had not been there long before 
Siscovitch and his wife turned up, seeking lodgings, with a 
letter of introduction to Mrs. Chapman from an American 
friend. I left them, I did not trust him. Elliott had left 
before. He was somewhere in Germany and I in Paris 
when we heard she was dead, and both came back to Lon- 
don to testify if need be. When the jury found that she 
might have died of heart disease, and that if poisoned there 
was no sign of it, we came- back to America and I guess 
that my record from that time on is pretty well known." 

Becker's first crime, it is said, was committed in order to 
buy his sweetheart a better engagement ring than he could 
afford. He was employed as an engraver and was skillful 
at his trade. The forgery was detected and the matter 
hushed up by the father of the young forger, who paid for 
his son's evil deed. The girl who wanted a better engage- 
ment ring soon wanted a richer husband and married a well- 
to-do man who afterwards took her to Paris, where she 
again met Becker, now grown famous (or rather, infamous) 
in crime, and left her husband for him. But she deserted 
her lover as she had done her husband, taking with her tin- 
spoils of his Parisian operations. 

After the forger's return to the United States, he mar- 
ried a very nice girl who did not know his real character, 
but who stuck to him like a trump when she did discover 
it. To this little woman was due the temporary reforma- 
tion of Becker, who, however, again fell into the hands of 
old companions, who found themselves lost without his 
valuable leadership. But to return to Baltimore. 

Two men, calling themselves Stabler, and pretending to 
be cousins, came to Baltimore in the hottest part of the 
summer of 1872, and announced an intention of starting 
business here. A vacant suite of offices owned by Mr. 



2 4° 



BALTIMORE. 



John S. Gittings just suited the strangers and they rented 
the same, paying three months' rental in advance. 

The new-comers were quite prepossessing in manner and 
apparently well-to-do and they made a great many acquaint- 
ances. Perhaps the elder and more American of the two 
men was the greater favorite, the other being known as 
" Dutchy" from his somewhat foreign accent. 

The Gittings building adjoined the Third National Bank 
on the north side, facing on South Street. The Stablers 
occupied the. whole lower floor and their business they 
announced to be grain and commission. 

Their taste, as evidenced by the furnishing of their 
offices, was excellent, and by the clerks employed and the 
signs of business which everybody might see they appeared 
to have come to make a success of the enterprise. 

People came in and out of the offices and were rather 
impressed by the style of the new firm. The bank, next 
door, found the Stablers large and constant depositors and 
was inclined to treat them with favor. In fact, upon one 
occasion the senior member of the firm was shown the 
bank vaults upon his expressing a hope that his money was 
well taken care of. 

One day a visitor came in and asked how business was. 
One of the partners quickly informed him that it was very 
poor — so poor that if it did not speedily improve they pro- 
posed to open a bank. The caller went away without see- 
ing the little joke or knowing that the great map which 
covered part of the wall of the inner office was the ver- 
itable curtain to a robber's cave ; but so it was. Charles 
Becker and a companion named Joe Elliott, with several 
pals who passed as clerks, were quietly using the sign of 
"Stabler & Co., Grain and Commission Merchants " as a 
blind, while they " opened a bank " from the rear of its vaults 



BANKING EXTRAORDINAR*Y— CONTINUED. 241 

— vaults of which the forger had so well and wisely learned 
the location when he pulled wool over the eyes of the 
unsuspecting bank official. 

Although the bank watchman, a man named Michael 
Burnett, was on duty and alert from Saturday till Monday, 
he heard no sound and detected nothing unusual — yet at 
that very time the burglars were perpetrating what is prob- 
ably the coolest and most clever bank robbery on record. 

Operations were commenced by breaking away a portion 
of the wall in the " Stablers' " rear office at a point just 
opposite the position of the bank vaults. The opening 
began at about three feet from the floor and was four feet 
square. This work must have all been clone upon succes- 
sive days or nights for several weeks, and between whiles 
the damage to the wall was hidden by the use of a large 
cotton sheet which was afterwards found. This sheet had 
mucilage or gum on the edges and there were corresponding 
marks on the wall, showing where it had been hung. But 
not relying upon this safeguard, a map of the United States 
was made to serve also in the same nefarious work. If the 
wind had blown the map aside the gap behind it would 
hardly have been noticed. 

The hole commenced in the plaster of the " Stablers' " 
inner office, continued through six courses of brick, which 
was in itself no mean undertaking, and required good tools 
as well as patience, and having accomplished this the opera- 
tors were encountered by the iron rear wall of the vault. 

Into this plate holes were bored in such a way as to 
mark the outline of a section 22/4 by 16 inches. A dia- 
mond drill did the work there is no doubt, though the drill 
was not afterwards found, but a timber frame, with a 
muffled beam against which the bit was backed, showed 
how skilfully the fellows worked. 



2 4 2 BALTIMORE. 

With this leverage the iron was cut through, but it was 
found that a miscalculation had been made. Instead of get- 
ting squarely into the centre of the back wall of the vault, 
they struck part of the side-wall, so that the aperture when 
finally made, was found to be only g 1 /, by 12^ inches. 

Imagine crawling through a hole like that and then work- 
ing on the inside with a light, depending only upon the 
air which could come through from the same opening. 

Sunday had been chosen as the best day for their work 
by the burglars. Sunday, the iSth, of August, 1872, was 
one of the hottest days of the season. Even out of doors, 
where there was a chance for a cool breeze, men were wish- 
ing that thev might exchange costumes with the wild South- 
sea islanders or get down somewhere on the ocean beach 
and let the surf rolf over them. As everyone knows, Balti- 
more is quite a decided city and when it resolves to be hot 
there is no half-way work about it. But sultry and oppres- 
sive as that day was some one of that party of sappers and 
miners, with a courage worthy of a much better cause, 
crawled into the broken vault and stayed there long enough 
to rifle it and to so tamper with the lock that it could not 
be opened in the ordinary way the next morning. The in- 
side of the iron vault was lined with several courses of 
brick. Within there was still an iron door to be forced and 
boxes or drawers to be ransacked. One can only marvel 
at the patience which accomplished it. 

( >ne of the interesting details of this work we must not 
omit. When the excavation was being made, the floor in 
Stablers' office was covered so that no dirt should fall upon 
it. The bricks and debris were removed carefully and the 
latter was dumped into the numerous drawers in the 
apartment. Another thing, which was found afterwards, 
showing the coolness of the party, was the indications of 



HANKING EXTRAORDINARY— CONTINUED. 243 

their having' satisfied the cravings of the inner man in a 
generous manner. 

Having with such address, courage and cunning secured 
the boot}" which the bank guardians supposed to be so se- 
curely protected, Becker and his associates left the prem- 
ises. A policeman was -met, and a few pleasant words 
passed between him and the robbers, who then made the 
best of their way out of the city. 

There was no blunder, no trouble, no unpleasantness. 
Not a suspicion of the actual facts of the case occurred, 
even when the teller tried the combination as usual in the 
morning and found that the vault would not open. Some 
of the works must be out of alignment he argued, — the lock 
had unaccountably refused to do as it should. A machinist 
was sent for, and though chilled steel is not easy to cut 
through and some time was consumed in getting the door 
open, this was finally accomplished and then the horrible 
truth began to dawn upon the waiting officials. 

" Robbed ! " The word was whispered at first as though 
it were a secret that nobody dared speak above his breath. 

There was the cash safe burst open, its contents gone, 
its store of money rifled and papers of less value, torn and 
soiled, strewing the floor. There, too, were the private 
boxes of depositors empty and overturned. Even the books 
of the bank were gone, — gone through an ominous hole 
which the overwhelmed officers finally discovered in the 
back of the vault. 

No one was silent now ; this was not a matter for con- 
cealment. Some one started post-haste for the police 
headquarters, and others, seeing that the hole must obvi- 
ously have another end to it, rushed around to the Stablers' 
office. There were tin- sheet and coverings which had been 
used, the tools of the robbers, the remains of their luncheon. 



244 BALTIMORE. 

even the woolen clothes in which they had worked. But 
even then it took some time to realize that perhaps the gen- 
tit-manly and prepossessing grain merchants were the crimi- 
nals. Their own money was in that vault with the rest. 

However, people began to recollect little things that had 
occurred ; clues which fitted together very nicely after the 
event. They remembered how one of the partners in the 
concern, the one they called " Dutchy," was in the habit of 
coming into the saloon nearest for lime punches, and that 
he once or twice appeared to have been engaged in heavy 
manual labor. Then too, several people in the bank remem- 
bered that on Saturday afternoon they had heard peculiar 
noises which they had attributed to some work going on in 
a saloon at the rear of the bank. Two or three things of 
this kind were recalled very vividly when it was too late. 

Evidently the thieves were hours away before the hue 
and cry was given. About six. o'clock on the evening of 
Sunday a private watchman employed at Hoen's litho- 
graphic establishment saw a man emerge from the Gittings 
building, and after looking up and down the street, lock the 
door after him and then walk rapidly towards Baltimore 
Street. That was " Dutchy." Probably by that time every- 
thing had been finished and the plunder secured, ready to 
be carried away as soon as darkness should lend its shelter 
to the enterprise. 

There were immediate conjectures as to the identity of 
the robbers. One of the papers said that about a year be- 
fore a firm giving no name hired a postoffice box, to which 
all their letters were addressed, and that the man who had 
transacted the business at that time answered to the de- 
scription of one E. Washburn, who was thought to be iden- 
tical with one of the "Stablers." 

Washburn's appearance was that of a neat, gentlemanly, 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY— CONTINUED. 245 

but somewhat nervous man, of about five feet seven inches 
in height, wearing side whiskers, etc., etc. Indeed, of theo- 
ries there were no end. The only difficulty was to estab- 
lish a theory which would help to detect the perpetrators 
of this most daring outrage. 

The great reputation which Becker afterwards made was 
not then established ; that was rather just the beginning of 
it. The carefully laid scheme to Hood European capitals 
with forged paper, the episode in Turkey already given, and 
the other incidents of his strange career were to follow a 
little later. He had time to escape across the ocean, he 
and his companions, and to make a splurge in Paris on their 
winnings. 

Becker's associate in the Baltimore robbery — his princi- 
pal partner, that is — was Joe Elliott. 

Elliott's career was a peculiar one. He had been a shop- 
lifter, an associate of criminals, a sneak thief and finally a 
master of the art of "doing" the unwary, so that he always 
seemed to have a pocket full of money, and while supposed 
to be a little fast, was nevertheless an associate of young- 
men of good families in New York City. He could dress, 
drink, talk and play well ; what more could be desired ? 

At the time of the Baltimore robbery this brilliant 
swindler was a little hard up for funds, and his was probably 
the first mind to conceive the idea of victimizing the Third 
National Bank. After the partial success of the forged 
sight draft swindle in Europe and Turkey, and the return of 
the gang to America, Elliott became enamoured of Kate 
Castleton, the actress, who married him, not knowing his ca- 
reer. There were mutual vows. The actress promised to give 
up her profession. They lived happily for a time, when a quar- 
rel ended in Kate returning to the stage and Joe taking up his 



246 BALTIMORE. 

abandoned tools again. But when he was caught and con- 
victed, on the testimony of his treacherous friend Becker, 
the affection of his wife revived and she did all in her power 
to save him, though in vain. A commuted sentence was 
served, after which the couple were reunited and the con- 
vict became a theatrical manager for his wife. 

More trouble followed however. Jealousy woke again 
and again ; a divorce was obtained, after which the couple 
married again, and finally Elliott deserted his wife and 
returned to his criminal practices. 

Not only in the attempts of Brockway or the achieve- 
ments of Becker and Elliott have the moneyed institutions 
of Baltimore been the victims of attack. 

Two years before the raid of the " Stablers " party, the 
Commercial and Farmers' Bank on Howard Street was the 
scene of an exciting episode. On the evening of February 
6, at about midnight, the community was roused by hear- 
ing cries of murder which seemed to come from the 
back of the bank. Several officers hurried to the scene, to 
find the bank watchman, Soloman Conway, in a pitiable 
state from wounds which he had received at the hands of 
unknown assailants. He was taken to a room, where, after 
his wounds were dressed, he related that he had entered the 
yard and found two men there, who in reply to his inquiry 
as to their business struck him with a billy, knocking him 
down. They then attempted to finish him, but his cries for 
help were so piercing that the assailants made the best 
time they could in escaping from the rescuers, whom they 
probably heard coming. 

False whiskers and a pair of handcuffs were all that the 
police found at first. But on the following morning a 
leather satchel containing a burglar's kit was discovered in 
Thomas Scharff's lumber-yard, near by, and confirmed the 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY— CONTINUED. :47 

opinion already entertained that the object of the attack 
was to make way with the watchman and then enter the 
bank. Besides the satchel was found a twelve-pound cop- 
per sledge-hammer such as burglars use. No clue was 
ever found to the perpetrators of this outrage. 

Still earlier, in 1866, the Peoples Bank, at the corner of 
Baltimore and Paca Streets, was robbed, on the 16th oi 
August. 

This was, like the Becker and Elliott affair, a Sunday job, 
but it was not quite so neatly executed, the perpetrators 
being evidently robbers of a more common class ; and yet 
they were no inexperienced hands, as their work showed. 
In some respects the robbery of the Peoples Bank was very 
much like that of the Third National. The same general 
plan of gaining admission through the wall of an adjacent 
building was followed, the base of operations in this case 
being the warehouse of Aaron Criss & Sons, which was 
next door. It is not known how the operators gained 
access to this building, but once there it is evident how 
they accomplished their purpose of depredation on the 
bank. 

They went first to work about half-way up the wall of the 
lower warehouse floor and cut through till they encountered 
a granite wall, which was too strong for them, and after 
several ineffectual attempts to pierce it they abandoned the 
effort and recommenced operations at another point not far 
from the front of the warehouse. Here they succeeded in 
cutting their way through into a portion of the bank from 
which the President's office, where the safes were situated, 
could be reached. 

There was no doubt that the thieves were well acquainted 
with the premises and had made a very careful study of the 
position of the safes and even of the character of their con- 



248 BALTIMORE. 

tents. One was used for the purpose of guarding the 
books of the bank, while the other was a repository for 
money and valuables on deposit. This second safe was the 
one attacked. A large proportion of its contents were 
bonds and securities belonging to private parties, and as the 
bank was not a member of the clearing-house and deposited 
daily through another bank, there was not any very great 
amount of money of its own in the safe. 

Altogether, however, the burglars must have made way 
with $20,000, and so skilfully did they cover their tracks 
that no trace of them was ever found. 

One of the daily papers of that date says : 

"The work was evidently that of experienced burglars, who had 
thoroughly studied the premises and set about their work with coolness and 
deliberation. About three weeks ago some pet cats that were kept in 
Ciiss & Sons' building were poisoned. It was customary for one of the 
employers to come on Sunday and feed the cats and take a look about the 
premises. The poisoning of the cats made this unnecessary, and provided 
it w.is done in anticipation of the robbery, shows the deliberation with which 
the rascals went about their work. The)- knew exactly where to dig 
through the wall and which vault to open. The hole in the warehouse 
wall is circular and about two feet in diameter. That in the vault is much 
smaller and barely sufficient for a man to squeeze through. While digging 
through the storehouse wall the thieves placed piles of bags of coffee 
on the floor for the excaved bricks and mortar to fall upon, and when 
they made their unsuccessful attempt they screened themselves with a num- 
ber of empty bags which they hung upon a stairway between themselves 
and the front of the warehouse. 

" In the wareroom was found a lot of new burglar's tools of the most ap- 
proved workmanship, crow-bars, gimlets, chilled steel augers, wrenches, 
screw-drivers and lock picks. A large valise was also found in the ware- 
house, which had been used in carrying these tools. 

" The watchman of the building, who lives near by, and a lady living on 
the opposite side of Paca Street, heard a noise as of an explosion about 
half-past three Sunday P. M., but did not pay any attention to it. 

" Shortly before seven o'clock Mr. Bend, the proprietor of a livery stable 



i; AN KING EXTRAORDINARY— CONTINUED. 249 

near by, saw two men with travelling bags in their hands pass out of the 
alley at ihe rear of the bank. 

" Inside the vault were found powder canisters, each holding half a 
pound, two of which were entirely empty and the others half-full. 

" The discovery was made about five o'clock on Sunday evening." 

The same bank had been attempted six or seven years 
before by a young man employed about the Western Police 
Station. This fellow had thought over the project till it 
had perhaps had an effect on his brain. At all events he 
showed a singular weakness of judgment in carrying out 
his plans. After working for a long time to collect a set of 
good chilled steel tools and wanting only an accomplice, he 
approached a sergeant of the station, who listened to his 
plans and readily agreed to help him carry them out. 

Supposing the matter to be a joke, yet not entirely 
trusting his subordinate, the sergeant went to the spot ap- 
pointed, to find the would-be burglar engaged according to 
agreement in making a hole in the wall. He promptly "as- 
sisted " to the best of his ability and the young man had 
plenty of time- afterwards to meditate on the foolishness of 
asking a shepherd to help him kill sheep. 

Since I have begun by speaking of one of the latest 
attempts on the Baltimore banks and have run back as the 
different cases have suggested themselves without regard 
to their chronological order, I shall continue to do so in 
still another case. This book does not pretend to lie in any 
sense a presentation of the "annals" or "chronicles" of 
Baltimore, and I therefore feel at liberty to take the 
privilege of one who sits down towards the close of the 
afternoon to relate to some friend the occurrences of the 
morning and who does not find it necessary to say " this 
happened at ten o'clock," or " this at eleven." 



2jo BALTIMORE. 

The Eutaw Savings Bank building was a two-story brick 
building on Eutaw and Fayette Streets. While the week 
day was devoted to the care of money on the lower floor, 
Sunday always saw a bright-faced crowd of children climb- 
ing upstairs to the second story, which was used as a Sun- 
day-school room by a Methodist Episcopal church. 

No doubt when the teachers imparted to these young- 
sters the great truths about laying up treasures in another 
world and the vanity of riches here, they refrained from 
speaking of the admirable institution on the floor below 
with anything but the profoundest respect. Indeed, had 
they known it they might have got many a lesson and illus- 
tration from the vaults of the bank, which in the hour of 
trial proved to be impregnable. And there were other 
things which mioht have been said about the advantages of 
vigilance and sobriety and the miserable condition of 
the robber who has lost all shame and self-respect and goes 
sneaking about his evil work in silence and darkness. All 
of which would have been forcibly brought home by the 
occurrences in the Eutaw Savings Bank on the night of 
March 27, 1866. 

The only means of access to the second story of the 
building was a stairway on the outside. 

Gaining admission to the upper room by means of a key. 
and cutting a hole in the floor, the thief or thieves succeeded 
in removing some of the bricks from the arch of the upper 
vault. 

While engaged in this work a noise was made that 
engaged the notice of the watchman, who made a careful 
examination of the cellar, and finding that there was noth- 
ing wrong there concluded that some of the occupants of a 
public-house in the rear were responsible for the" disturb- 
ance. 



BANKING EXTRAORDINARY— CONTINUED. 251 

The raiders must have known exactly the position of the 
vault they aimed to enter, for they struck it at once. That 
they entered through the aperture they had made there is 
no question, but they found the cross and transverse sec- 
tions of granite and chilled steel with which they had to 
cope altogether too much for them. It is not improbable 
however that if this job had fallen into the hands of a 
Becker and an Elliott it would have been more successfully 
carried through. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



ATE 




THE SEQUENCE OF A CRIME. 

the afternoon of February 2, 1872, two men 
entered a cottage on the York road, about 
four miles out of Baltimore. One of 
these was a strongly built mechanic and 
the other a youth of the neighborhood, 
named Engde. The scene within the 
cottage revealed a fire, a few bottles of 
chemicals, some stuff which bore a resem- 
blance to rubber and a little machinery. 
A stranger's first impression would have been that it was 
the laboratory or workshop of an experimenter, and such a 
surmise would have been supported by the facts. 

Bending over his pans and retorts, changing this combi- 
nation or adjusting that, stood the genius of the place, so 
intent upon his work that he hardly noticed the intrusion 
till the elder of the visitors stood close beside him. Then 
he looked up and showed some surprise at seeing Engle, 
making a motion as though he would cover or conceal a 
portion of his apparatus. But a whisper from the other 
reassured him and presently he said, " Will, I wish you would 



THE SEQUENCE OF A CRIME. 253 

light that lamp for me. It is getting too dark to work 
here." 

Udderzook, for that was the name of the man addressed, 
took the lamp from the table and tried to light it, but it re- 
fused to burn clearly. After a few moments Engle, who 
had been a close observer of the attempt, suggested that the 
wick might be reversed, but Udderzook objected, saying 
that it was too dangerous an experiment in a place which 
was full of chemicals. 

"I am an interested party," he said, laughing, "for Mr. 
Goss has found a substitute for India rubber, which is going 
to make our everlasting fortunes, and as I have been "back- 
ing him I naturally don't want to have anything happen to 
him just yet." 

Goss looked up again in a warning way, as though he 
thought that his friend was talking too much; but just at 
that moment Engle offered to go to his house, which was 
near by, and get a light, and the elder man said that he 
would go with him. As they left the cottage the)' heard 
Goss, who had evidently been annoyed, lock the door be- 
hind them. 

If the two, upon leaving the cottage, had looked about 
them carefully, they might have seen the lurking figure of 
a man who was evidently watching the building. Perhaps 
Udderzook did see him, but if so he gave no sign to his 
companion. Together they proceeded to Engle's house, 
but were some time in getting a lamp, so that by the time 
they came out of doors again it was quite dark— or, no ! not 
quite ; for there was a faint glow that broadened and 
brightened every moment till the sky was illuminated and 
the bare branches of the trees were outlined distinctly 



against it. 



Animated by one thought they ran to a point from which 



-54 BALTIMORE. 

they could gain a view of the cottage. It was as they had 
surmised ; from every window the flame was issuing and a 
dense volume of smoke gathered and eddied about the 
eaves or rose heavenward in a dense mass. 

It takes but a little while for the cry of " Fire" to arouse 
the quietest neighborhood. From up and down the road 
and by every short cut people were hurrying to sec what is 
always one of the most exhilarating spectacles. The 
mildest and most humane men seem to take an almost 
savage enjoyment in seeing the ungovernable flame take 
possession of some one else's property and devour it. 

Foremost among those who arrived on the scene was 
Sergeant Cadwallader, of the Western Precinct, who did 
what he could to guide the crowd in some effectual work, 
but almost entirely in vain. There seemed nothing to ^\o 
but to push in the burning shell as soon as it could be dem- 
and so prevent the fire from spreading further. 

But now another feature was added to the disaster ; a most 
unpleasant odor began to rise from the burning building. 

" It is the rubber burning," said Engle. 

"It is something worse." thought Udderzook. 

I p lo this time it had not occurred to any one, or at 
least not to more than one of those present, that there 
might he some i^nr cremated in the cottage. Before the 
front of the building had got so hot the door had been 
tried and it was found locked. 

( adwallader succeeded in forming a line witli a sort of 
battering-ram, with which a side of the wall was finally 
knocked in, and through the opening thus made some one, 
sharper eyed than the rest, declared that he could see the 
half-consumed body of a man. 

\\ hat a sudden hush fell upon the crowd as those who 
had enjoyed the excitement of the lire realized that they 



THE SEQ1 I.NlI. 01 A CRIME. 23 ; 

were spectators of a graver tragedy— that Goss, just as he 

had perfected his invention, at the moment that he saw a 
fortune within his -rasp, had lost his life, perhaps through 
some piece of carelessness, among the ruins of the very 
apparatus which was to have done so much for him. 

As soon as possible the almost unrecognizable coal of 
human flesh was drawn from the embers. One by one the 
little trinkets which he had worn were found and recogniz< d. 
1 hose who knew Goss had no difficulty in identifying him, 
and it only remained for some one to carry the sad news of 
his death to his widow, Udderzook's sister-indaw. 

Of course the latter took charge of the remains as soon 
as the coroner's jury had done their duty and settled that 
\\ infield Scott Goss had come by his death through an 
accident. With a decent show of grief the brother-in-law 
superintended the arrangements by which the last signs of 
respect were shown to the unfortunate inventor. 

From the grief-stricken house at No. 514 Eutaw Street, 
the funeral cortege went one February afternoon, and then 
all except those most nearly connected with Goss would 
probably in a little while have almost forgotten that such a 
man had ever lived had not a single circumstance served to 
keep his memory alive. Goss had carried a very large 
insurance upon his life, the widow had applied for the 
amount of $25,000, for which his policies called, and the 
companies were contesting the claim 

I here is nothing unusual in the fact of the refusal of an 
insurance company to pay a claim of that kind, but the 
amount surprised those who heard of it, as it seemed a 
great deal for a workman, a gilder, to pay premiums upon. 
Only I dderzook, who had persuaded Goss to assume larger 
policies and who had furnished him with money to meet 
his premiums, expressed no surprise. lie fought the bat- 



256 BALTIMORE. 

tie with the insurance companies coolly and finally suc- 
ceeded in graining: a verdict in his sister's favor. This was 
a matter which took time. Half a year passed before it 
was settled and then, after point by point had been success- 
fully contested, the companies began the conflict anew. 

The points made by the companies were principally that 
Goss was carrying more insurance than his income war- 
ranted and that the charred remains found in the burning 
building were not sufficient to prove the fact of the death 
of the insured. But at last a verdict was rendered in favor 
of Mrs. Goss, and a mandamus granted bv the Court, com- 
pelling the companies to pay the policies to her. 

The devoted brother, whose labors in his sister's behalf 
had been so patient and unremitting, had begun to show 
the effects of his untiring energy. He was beginning to 
look somewhat careworn. No doubt the fatigue and worry 
had been too much for him, unless indeed some other cause 
for care was o-ivino- his cheek and brow their furrows and 

o o 

his eye that furtive, harassed look. 

Udderzook took to watching for the postman and read- 
ing certain letters in secret, answering them with care. 
Often the letters which he sent in reply contained money. 
He made good wages and was a sober, industrious work- 
man, but he could not but feel a secret drain upon his pocket- 
book ; perhaps that was what worried him. 

One day, as he stood at the door of his house, a man 
stepped up and spoke to him, a forlorn fellow enough, who 
showed unmistakable signs of drink and debauchery, and 
yet Udderzook turned white and shivered as he saw him. 

" What are you doing here ? " he demanded, as soon as 
he could find voice. 

" I am tired of this ; no one knows me here, and I want 
more money," was the reply. 



THE SEQUENCE OF A CRIME. .„ 

"Where do you think I can get it-haven't I given you 
all I could get hold of? You know we haven't got anything 
>et. horGods sake, come away somewheres out of this 
or we will both get in trouble." One would hardly have 
recognized the careful cool brother in this angry man who 
however, was fast regaining control of himself and at the' 
same time getting the mastery over his besotted compan- 
ion^ ■< Lome away, " he insisted, " and I will talk with you " 
He took his unwelcome visitor down to the wharves' and 
there in one of the meanest taverns in Baltimore kept him 
hidden all that spring day. Their conversation was deep 
and earnest but at the same time guarded and low, so that 
no one could overhear it. 

After nightfall Wilson, for that was what the stranger 
was called, departed, going on a Philadelphia train as far as 
that cty and thence to a little country place in Pennsvl- 
vania. 

It would have been evident to any one at all cognizant 
with the facts that Udderzook had not only been eiUaed 
m something which he was afraid to have exposed, bm also 
that he had a confederate in the matter. Whatever the 
crime .was it would also be apparent that Wilson was a 
party to it. 

After the visit just narrated Wilson's letters became 
more frequent and more impatient. He made imperative 
demands for money, which the other was not always able to 



meet 



About this time Udderzook, who was by trade a maker 

of edge tools gave a great deal of attention to something 
which he evidently was making for himself, judging by the 
care he bestowed upon it. This was a long knife or dirk 
keen double-edged and well-tempered. He knew just how 
to fashion such an implement, just how long to leave it in 



2; S BALTIMORE. 

the blaze of his charcoal fire and at what instant, as the 
colors chased along the blade from orange to blue, to plunge 
it in the bath of oil. Then how he ground and polished it ; 
trying first point, then edge, to see whether there was any 
flaw, any weak spot. It was a slender, wicked, beautiful 
weapon that a man might cut a piece of silk with or 

Udderzook was proud of his handiwork ; one could easily 
see that by the way he handled it, holding it horizontally 
and cuttingf the air with a swift motion of the wrist or 
thrusting it downwards as though he was searching, prob- 
ing with it. But he was content to enjoy this wonderful 
knife by himself, since he had made it entirely for himself, 
and showed it to no one. Not every one could have refrained 
from exhibiting what he was so proud of, but Udderzook 
was a peculiar man and latterly he had become reticent. 

Finally, in the month of June, when the long fight with 
the insurance companies was nearly at an end and the 
fatigues of the spring and winter had begun to tell upon 
him, Udderzook resolved that he would pay a visit to his 
old mother, who lived in the country, in Chester County, 
Pennsylvania. Sam Rhoades was a brother-in-law, with 
whom he was not always on good terms, to be sure, because 
Rhoades imagined that Udderzook had overreached him at 
one time, but still they might find an interest or two in 
common. 

The train that left Philadelphia in the morning arrived 
at the town of West Grove, from which there is no railroad 
to jennerville, the little town where Udderzook's mother 
lived, which is but a mile or two beyond. When the knife- 
maker got off at the West Grove Station he had with him 
a companion, who even at that hour seemed to be the worse 
for drink. There were no conveyances to be had, so the 
companions started to walk, taking as they went a short cut 



THE SEQUENCE OF A CRIME. 259 

through the woods. The green foliage of the early sum- 
mer was delightful, every tree seemed lull of music and the 
little brook where the other man stopped to quench his 
thirst laughed in the sunshine. 

As the drinker bent over the stream Udderzook's hand 
sought the handle of his dirk and was withdrawn ag-ain. 
There was something in the day, in the recollections which 
it brought up, perhaps, which prevented him from carrying 
out the purpose which for one instant gleamed from his 
eyes. But when Wilson — for it was that mysterious being 
—looked up from his unaccustomed draught his face was 
stony in its composure. 

They passed a farmhouse on the way and Wilson in- 
sisted on going up there for cherries ; a purpose from 
which his companion tried in vain to dissuade him. 

The knife-maker persuaded Wilson that they had better 
not be seen, for reasons best known to themselves and suf- 
ficient in the eyes of both of them, so the twain sat down 
in the shadow of a thicket and Wilson fell asleep. Again 
Udderzook seemed to be steeling himself for some terrible 
purpose, and again he refrained. The breeze came through 
the trees, and the waking man trembled and shivered as 
though it was cold ; but Wilson slept securely. 

After that they went on once more, reaching the home 
of the old lady late in the day. Leaving Wilson in an or- 
chard near by, Udderzook went across the road to his 
mother's house, only to find that she was out; so as a last 
resort he concluded to take his companion to a small coun- 
try hotel in the neighborhood. After many cautions on 
the one hand and promises on the other, this plan was car- 
ried into effect. 

Early in the morning the master-spirit endeavored to 
borrow a horse ami wagon, but failing to get anything; 



26d BALTIMORE. 

more than the horse he unwillingly left Wilson at the 
hotel and went up the road a little way to Rhoades' farm, 
where he found his sister. After dinner she accompanied 
him to the field where her husband was at work, and the 
two men, retiring- to a little distance, held a long, earnest 
discussion, in which Rhoades listened to the other's prop- 
osition without giving him any answer, further than that 
he would consent to have Wilson come to the house and 
stay there for awhile. 

There was a stable at the village of Penningtonville and 
as Mrs. Rhoades said that she was "■oino- there Udderzook 
walked up with her and then procured a horse and wagon, 
after which he returned to the hotel where he left W'ilson, 
who was ill that day and unable to walk, and taking him in, 
started off, having first procured a liberal supply of whiskey 
from Mr. Jeffreys, the landlord. 

But Wilson never arrived at the Rhoades' house. After 
awhile the knife-maker returned alone, and in answer to 
inquiries said that his friend had decided to leave by the 
train and that he had taken him over to the railroad sta- 
tion. Then having returned the wagon and horse he went 
to his mother's house and rested. 

She was no doubt glad to see him ; what mother is not 
glad to see her boy, or will fail to be pleased and compli- 
mented that he has thought enough of her to come a long 
way to visit her ? Probably she kissed him, and laid her 
withered wrinkled hands on his shoulders, and with a 
woman's undying affection was proud of him. 

She may have thought him changed and more restless 
and silent by turns than he used to be. But if she could 
only imagine what was before those unhappy eyes day and 
night, could even mother love have survived it ? 

Everv shadow that came across from the orchard in the 



THE SEQUENCE OF A CRIME. 261 

evening seemed to him to be taking a familiar form ; the 
quick rustle of a bird's wing startled him ; the patches of 
morning sunlight on the grass grew red as he looked. 

He felt that his nerves were shaken, yet could hardly 
have expressed the utter miser)' that seemed to have taken 
possession of him. 

Finally he said good-bye and went away from the village, 
and his mother stood in the doorway and watched him go 
down the road. 

A few days later some people passing a piece of woods 
between West Grove and Jennerville noticed a great num- 
ber of crows that collected near a thicket of young chest- 
nut-trees and seemed loth to fly away when disturbed, ris- 
ing heavily and going but a little distance. 

Curiosity prompted investigation and the searchers found 
to their horror the dismembered trunk and head of a man 
whose face had been battered beyond recognition. This 
the carrion birds had uncovered in its shallow grave. The 
most intense excitement prevailed, and before long the tm- 
ger of suspicion began to point to Udderzook, whose com- 
panion, Wilson, had so mysteriously disappeared. 

There were several causes which led to the idea that 
Udderzook was the guilty man. The fact that he and 
Wilson had driven off together, and that while the former 
had stayed in the neighborhood for several days afterwards 
the latter had utterly disappeared, was the first. Added to 
this was the circumstance of the breaking of the dash-board 
of the wagon used, as though there had been a struggle ; 
but more damning than all was the testimony of Samuel 
Rhoades, who alleged that the accused had approached him 
with a proposition to assist in murdering a man who had a 
thousand dollars (as he understood it) about his person. 

The coroner's verdict was as follows : " That this man, 



262 BALTIMORE. 

whose name is unknown, came to his death between the 
hours of 7 p. m. July ist and Si,' A. M., on July 2d, 1873, 
from wounds inflicted with a dirk knife or other sharp in- 
strument in the hands of Win. E. Udderzook of Baltimore, 
Md., either himself or assisted by others." 

The sheriff of Chester County, David Gill, came himself 
to Baltimore on the morning of July 16, to apprehend the 
murderer. He reported at the Marshal's office and applied 
for assistance. While one of the officers detailed went 
to Udderzook's place of residence, the other, Detective 
Thomas Carroll, proceeded to Messrs. Otto Duker & Co.'s, 
on President Street, where he was employed, and there 
found him and at once took him to the Central Station. 
Sheriff Gill there identified him as the man wanted in 
Chester County, and on the following morning, after a night 
spent in confinement, he took leave of his wife and chil- 
dren and was removed to West Chester, Pa., where he was 
imprisoned to await his trail. 

After the arrest of Udderzook, while we were waiting for 
the requisition to extradite him to Pennsylvania, a scene 
was reported to us by a negress which convinced me at once 
that he was guilt)-. This woman said that from her win- 
dow, which overlooked that of the room in which the 
prisoner was confined, she saw his wife come in and fling 
herself upon the floor, grasping him with her arms flung 
about his knees and giving way to an abandonment of 
grief. Suddenly he rose, pushed her away and putting both 
hands to his throat staggered across the room, showing every 
sign of horror and despair. The thought that then flashed 
across my mind was intuitive— I felt that there was no mistake. 

Udderzook's behavior after his return from his mother's 
home had been exemplary. He had betrayed no unusual 
emotion or excitement, was neither particularly reticent nor 



THE SEQUENCE OF A CRIME. 

noticeably restless. He went to work immediately at his 
trade and pursued his usual calm, temperate, industrious 
mode of life, so that when the detective finally put his hand 
on him and said, » You are my prisoner, Mr. Udderzook " 
every one who knew him was astonished. 

The evidence was all circumstantial, but of a character so 
s rong and convincing that from the first it seemed impossi- 
ble to doubt the guilt of the prisoner. He was represented 
by able counsel, whose efforts in his behalf could only stay 
the course of events. And yet to the end he showed the 
same calmness of demeanor, and only those who watched 
him narrowly, could see the tightening cords in his throat 
the swollen veins and the hunted look in his eyes 

As the case proceeded a curious question presented itself 
a riddle wh.ch for a time bid fair to baffle every one 

^ ho was the mysterious A. C. Wilson ? Was he also 
a criminal, fleeing from justice? Did the hand of an 
accomplice only anticipate the hand of the law ? 

He had disappeared-but before that where did he come 
>mi In the whole length and breadth of the land there 
was not an A. C. Wilson 



o 



r-f^«"<-« IJUL ueiure mat wnere c 
from? In the whole length and breadth of th< 
-as not an A. C.Wilson missing, nor any one answering 
to his description. But stay : there was one man who in 
h.s build in habits, in character, by every mark by which 
a ^semblance could be noted had resembled this man who 
called himself A. C. Wilson ; that was the man over whose 
death the insurance companies had been fighting-Win- 
field Scott Goss. & 

But Goss had been buried. Some one had been buried 
who had borne Goss's name and over whom the courts had 
been in a f t for oyer ^ months _ wag h ^ ^ 

after a I the insurance companies, who had so strenuously 
insisted that there was no proof positive of his death, had 
been in the ri<dn ? 



264 BALTIMORE. 

Gradually all the facts of the great conspiracy to defraud 
the companies came to light ; bit by bit the whole dark 
secret was unraveled ; by letters, photography and all the 
modern methods which so aid the course of justice the identity 
of the murdered man with the other, who was supposed to 
have perished long before, was established. It was almost 
as though the wretched creature had died two deaths. 

One line of inquiry was instituted by the insurance com- 
panies and conducted by their detectives. By them the 
wanderings of Goss, under the alias of Wilson, were traced 
from city to city through the East, into Canada, and 
among the Western states. A ring which Udderzook 
overlooked and which was afterwards found near the body 
of the murdered Wilson was proved to have belonged to 
the much-insured Goss. Even the body was recognized as 
being that of Wilson and also of Goss. 

Between the companies' agents and the authorities of 
Chester County, the volume of evidence brought was over- 
whelming and at last the case was submitted to the jury. 

Judge Butler's legal opinion on this occasion was notable. 
During the examination of witnesses, the arguments of 
lawyers, the charge of the Court, the verdict of the jury 
and the sentence pronounced upon him, the prisoner, 
against whom a mountain of evidence seldom equalled had 
been piled up, sat impassive and unaffected, playing with 
his little daughter or interesting himself with whatever 
might be transpiring in the court-room. Not once did he 
lose his marvellous composure, even when he came to the 
scaffold, but to the last protested his innocence, so that 
many people, overlooking the chain of facts which, as 
Judge Butler said, "was long enough to twice enfold the 
prisoner," doubted whether he was really the guilty wretch 
he had been adjudged. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE WHARTON-KETCHUM CASK AND OTHERS. 




ARDLY less exciting than the attempt of 
Goss and his brother-in-law to defraud the 
insurance companies was a case which 
occurred in July of the previous year. Al- 
though the incidents were not so dramatic, 
yet the interest was enhanced by the fact 
that the Wharton-Ketchum case, as it 
was called, touched people of high social 
standing in the city. 

On the ioth of Jul)-, 1 87 1 , the following- 
warrant was ordered : 

" Please issue bench warrant on the oath of Deputy Mar- 
shal Frey for the apprehension of Mrs. Henry Wharton, re- 
siding at No 263 North Eutaw Street, Baltimore, upon the 
charge of feloniously, wilfully and of her malice afore- 
thought, poisoning, killing and murdering General Ketchum, 
of the United States Army, June 28th, 1871. Issue also 
bench warrant against the same part}' for attempting to 
poison Eugene Van Ness, on the 24th of |une, 1S71, on 
the oath of Deputy Marshal Frey. 

" Frederick Pinkney, 
" Deputy States Attorney for the city of Baltimore." 



THE SEQUENCE OF A CRIME. 265 

A confession, printed several years later, but purporting 
to have been written by Udderzook while in the jail at 
West Chester, and probably authentic, gives the details of 
his crime. In it no smallest incident is omitted, and read- 
ing it one does not know whether most to execrate the 
fiend who could deliberately plan and execute so atrocious 
a crime, or pity the wretch who having taken the first step 
in crime found himself impelled by every motive of self- 
interest and self-preservation to continue to the bitter end. 

Udderzook was a man of more than average intelligence : 
he had come into Maryland with Pennsylvania troops and 
had afterwards been with a Maryland regiment, from which 
he was mustered out at the close of the war. At one time 
he had shown a leaning to art, and had given lessons in 
painting. In his work as a maker of edged tools he ex- 
celled, and of his life, with the exception of the crime that 
led to its dishonorable close, nothing evil is known. 

Besides Udderzook and Goss there was but one other 
who was supposed to know of the plot to defraud the insur- 
ance companies ; that was Goss's brother, with whom he 
was thought to have escaped on the night of the fire, and 
who drove the culprit away in a wagon which he had in 
waiting. 



THE WHARTON-KETCHUM CASE AND OTHERS. 267 

'I his lady, who was charged with a crime of so black a 
nature, was the widow of a major in the regular arm)-, and 
had an assured position among people of wealth and refine- 
ment. The apparent motive for the deed charged in the 
warrant lay in the fact of a debt which Mrs. Wharton owed 
General Ketchum. It is hardly possible to conceive of a 
condition of affairs more startling to the community than 
that which was brought about by the disclosures which led 
to the issuing of the warrant just quoted. 

The late Major Wharton had had an old army associate 
and friend who occasionally visited the residence of his widow. 
This was General Ketchum, of the regular arm)'. On the 
23d day of June he visited her home on Hamilton Place, 
intending to stay several days. The next day he was taken 
suddenly ill and a physician, Dr. P. C. Williams, was called 
in. It so happened that while several gentlemen who called 
to visit the General were in the house they drank of some 
beer which Mrs. Wharton offered to them, and one of the 
number, Mr. Van Ness, became so violently sick that he 
was unable to leave the house. He was attended by his 
family physician, Dr. Chew. 

General Ketchum died on the 28th of the month, and 
the illness of Mr. Van Ness led the people to suspect 
that his death was not due to natural causes. His remains 
were removed to Washington, but before interment, Profes- 
sor William E. A. Aikin, of the Mankind University, ana- 
lyzed the contents of his stomach, at the request of his 
brother-in-law, Paymaster-General Brice, and after conclud- 
ing his work reported the discovery of twenty grains of 
tartar emetic. To make the chain of circumstances stron^er 
lt was found that Mrs. Wharton was hastening preparations 
which had been already begun to leave for Europe via Xew 
York, on the 10th of July. 



268 BALTIMORE. 

Mr. Eugene Van Ness was a clerk in the house of Alex- 
ander Brown & Sons, the bankers, and was said to have 
known a great deal about Mrs. Wharton's private accounts. 
He had received, it was stated, a glass of beer from Mrs. 
Wharton's own hands, and laid it aside, and this was after- 
wards analyzed and said to contain fifteen grains of tartar 
emetic. This discovery occurred on the day that General 
Ketchum died. The facts were communicated to us by 
Dr. Williams. 

These occurrences sufficiently explain and justify the ap- 
plication upon which the warrant was issued. Immediately 
after receiving it I went to Mrs. Wharton's house and took 
her into custody. 

On the morning of December 2, Mrs. Wharton was no- 
tified that she was to be removed from Baltimore City Jail 
to Annapolis for trial. Her council were Messrs. I. Nevitt 
Steele and John H. Thomas. When the order for her 
arrest was served, Judge Gilmor, who received an applica- 
tion for bail, decided to refer the matter to the grand jury. 
Mrs. Wharton and her daughter, who had been permitted 
to occupy the same room with her in the jail, remained till 
transferred to Annapolis. 

This journey from the jail to the steamer was made in a 
hack which had been procured by her friends. The prisoner 
was accompanied by Warden Irvin, Mrs. Neilson, Miss 
Wharton, and so quietly was the departure made that no 
one except a few policemen knew what was taking place. 
The steamer " Samuel J. Pentz " conveyed the party to An- 
napolis, and on the way Mrs. Wharton seemed in good 
spirits until the sight of the crowd of fifty or sixty people 
who had gathered to witness her arrival caused her consid- 
erable annoyance. 

The trial of Mrs. Wharton for the poisoning of General 



THE WHARTON-KETCHUM CASE AND OTHERS. 269 

Ketchum commenced on the 4th of December, and lasted 
for forty-three days, concluding upon the 24th of January. 
It was a long and bitter fight, but mostly a tight among 
the physicians and scientists, who discussed all the pros 
and cons of antimonial and kindred topics to their hearts' 
content. 

1 he most damaging testimony was given and rebutted. 
It was shown that Mrs. Wharton had purchased tartar 
emetic at the time that General Ketchum was taken sick, 
and then that she had used it for another purpose. At one 
time there was every reason to believe that the case was 
going against her, but toward the last things began to look 
brighter for the prisoner. On the last day of the trial, as 
the carriage in which she was taken from the court-room to 
the jail appeared, a rush was made by an excited crowd, who 
all semed eager to catch a glimpse of her. At ten minutes 
before ten the jury sent word that the)' had agreed and 
Mrs. Wharton was again sent for, returning in the com- 
pany of her friends, escorted by Sheriff Chairs. She was 
dressed in black and wore a veil through which her emo- 
tion, if she betrayed an)-, could not be observed. A few- 
moments later the jury were brought in, and the prisoner 
rose and in obedience to direction lifted her right hand. 

The clerk then said, according to the usual formula: 
"Gentlemen of the Jury, look upon the prisoner at the 
bar. How say you ? is sin- guilty of the matter whereof she 
stands indicted or not guilty ?" 

During a breathless silence Mr. Franklin Deale, the 
foreman of the jury, rose and said : " Not guilt)'." 

The movement toward applause was speedily checked, 
the friends of the acquitted woman crowded around her 
with their congratulations, and the great trial was over. It 
had been noteworthy not only because of the gravity of 



2;o BALTIMORE. 

the crime charged and the high standing of the parties in- 
volved, but also for the opportunity for the exercise of great 
ability on the part of the legal gentlemen who took part 
in it. Attorney-General Sylvester and State's Attorney 
Revell, whose reputations were hardly surpassed in the 
country, assumed the case for the state. Opposed to them 
were lawyers of great ability, whose efforts to acquit their 
client on this occasion was not their least brilliant per- 
formance. 

No case has ever awakened more anxious interest here 
than this, and perhaps never has the verdict of a jury done 
less to still popular debate on the subject. There were 
many who held that Mrs. Wharton was freed, but not 
cleared ; that through the carelessness of a chemist alone 
had she escaped. Rather than "not guilt}'" they said, the 
conclusion should have been simply, " not proven." 

The papers of the day reviewed the incidents of the 
affair. Especially was the failure of Professor Aikin to 
make his analysis complete referred to in the bitterest 
terms. 

It was felt by many people that the brilliant services of 
her able counsel, coupled with the bungling work of the 
scientific experts, had conspired to set at liberty one of the 
greatest criminals of the age, a woman who had in cold 
blood sinned against every law of hospitality, friendship and 
humanity, while filling a high social position and posing as 
a person of religious convictions. 

On the other hand, many deplored the insufficiency of 
the evidence which should leave the slightest cloud upon 
the reputation of one whom they regarded as an innocent 
martyr to a diabolical combination of circumstances that 
seemed to close about their victim like a net. It is but just 
to say that there are very many people who held and still 



THE WHARTON-KETCHUM CASK AND OTHERS. 271 

hold this latter opinion and regard Mrs. Wharton's trial and 
all the circumstances surrounding' it somewhat in the nature 
of a persecution. 

We have no right to go beyond the " Not guilty " of that 
jury, though it may well be regretted that any doubt should 
linger or that this woman, if innocent, should still carry 
upon her memory the stain and shadow of a great crime. 

Another celebrated case in which I was constrained to 
take no little interest was that of a brute named Nicholson, 
to whom was due the death of Mrs. Lampley. It was in 
every respect the very opposite of the Wharton affair, for 
not only were the position and prominence of the people 
very different, but the circumstances were of a more brutal 
though perhaps not more revolting nature. 

On the night of the 2nd of January, 1873, two officers 
came to the house of the veteran Detective Pontier, and 
told him that a woman had been slain at No. 102 Mulligan 
Street. As he hastened to the scene of this crime, Pontier 
heard the story of his visitors, who it seems had gone first 
to the house in response to a request from young Lampley, 
who believed that somebody was after his father's chickens. 
There the) - found that the elder Mrs. Lampley was dead, 
and the strong box in which her frugal husband kept his 
savings, amounting to several thousand dollars, was gone. 

Mr. Pontier, with Detective Shaffer, stayed around the 
premises all that night and the next da)-, carefully examin- 
ing everything with the instinct of well-trained detective of- 
ficers. They used their eyes and ears, talked with every- 
one from whom they thought it possible to obtain a clue, and 
followed every thread of evidence with a sagacity that 
seemed unerring. There were marks upon the throat of 
the woman, marks that had been made by human fingers. 
A chisel had been used to pry open a cupboard, and a chisel 



272 BALTIMORE. 

found in an alley near by fitted exactly the dents made in 
the wood-work. There was a deaf mute, a son of Mrs. 
Sprague, living- at home, who recognized the tool as one 
belonging to him to which he had fitted a handle recently. 
One Hollohan was said to have had it last. The excite- 
ment of the poor mute and his efforts to communicate when 
he first caught sight of the tool were almost pitiful. He 
recognized it at once. So the story was pieced together 
day by day. 

I went to Lampley's house at once and found the 
condition of affairs saddening enough. There was the 
daughter of the dead woman, weeping over her mother's 
body ; the husband, who for the first time in many years 
had been to the theatre that night, was distracted and 
amazed at the magnitude of the calamity which had over- 
taken him, while the son was dazed and unnerved. The 
shutters of the window near which Mrs. Lampley's chair 
had been placed were closed. The remains of a luncheon 
were on a table in the adjoining room and also two pack- 
ages of cakes and confectionery -which Mrs. Lampley had 
prepared for Nicholson's children. Nicholson had married 
a granddaughter of old Mrs. Lampley. After his arrest he 
was questioned pretty closely and finally offered a con- 
fession that put the chief blame upon his associate Hollo- 
han, who was an inmate of Mrs. Sprague's boarding- 
house. The story in brief was this : Nicholson had heard 
his mother-in-law, and in fact all the family, discuss the fact 
of the elder Lampley having money concealed in the house 
and had imparted this knowledge to Hollohan. Learning 
in the afternoon before the old woman's death that Lamp- 
ley was going to Ford's Opera House that night, they met 
at about seven o'clock and proceeded to the house and 
were courteously received by Mrs. Lampley, who offered 



THE WHARTON-KETCHUM CASE AND OTHERS. 273 

them cakes and wine. They partook of the old lady's hos- 
pitality, but left the cakes which the grandmother had put 
up in paper for Nicholson's children, of whom she was very 
fond. 

The next step was to ascertain if the coast was perfectly 
clear, and for this purpose the men asked where Lampley 
Jr. was and she said that he was in a saloon near and that 
she would go for him. Hollohan said that he would do 
that and went out to fasten the gate and shutters which 
opened upon the alley. Having done so he returned and 
the wretches announced to the venerable woman their in- 
tention of killing her. She begged piteously for her life, 
plead with them to spare her, but to no purpose. Nichol- 
son claimed that he then went out and left Hollohan to 
finish the deed, but Hollohan denied that statement em- 
phatically. 

Between them they made an end of the kind old woman 
and then ransacked the house, with the effect that has been 
stated. 

The scene in court was full of interest when Nicholson's 
confession was admitted and the trial of his associate and 
himself was in progress. Sullenly Hollohan listened to 
the damning testimony that was being piled up against him 
and to the eloquent words of the prosecuting attorney, 
Mr. Revell, who pictured the diabolical treachery of the 
man who could accept the hospitality of his hostess and 
then turn to slay her. 

Suddenly, without any warning, Hollohan sprang from 
the place where he had sat, and with some pieces of iron 
which he had wrapped in a stocking and had found some 
means to conceal, he rushed toward me with an oath. The 
spring was like that of a wild animal, so sudden that I had 
no time to avoid him, and in a moment I felt a sickening 



274 BALTIMORE. 

blow upon my head and the blood poured from the wound 
which the desperado had inflicted. 

I had been sitting just inside of the rail, almost facing the 
prisoner, so that when he made the attack the impetus of it 
carried him past me and into the very arms of several peo- 
ple who started forward to avert the blow. They would, I 
think, have killed him on the spot, if rough handling could 
do it, But fortunately I was not seriously, though badly, 
wounded, and had not lost control of my senses. I suc- 
ceeded in laying my hand on the prisoner and reminding 
those around that he belonged to the State. So we led 
him back to his place. Nicholson got nearly to the door, 
but was captured and brought back. 

This effort had one inevitable effect. Had the jury in- 
clined to leniency it would have been hardened to obduracy 
by such an action. It showed a guilty conscience on the 
part of the accused which could not be explained away. 

The intense excitement that prevailed in the court-room 
was at length quieted and Mr. Revell concluded his argu- 
ment, ingeniously using the weapon which the prisoner had 
put in his hand. 

Hollohan was sentenced to suffer the extreme penalty of 
the law for his crime. He was a hardened reprobate, whose 
acquaintance with the inside of a jail did not begin on that 
occasion. Nicholson gained a delay, but was sentenced 
later and executed at the same time as his associate in crime. 

There was another shocking affair in which the confes- 
sion of a man saved him from the gallows. That was the 
notorious Unger, whose name is forever associated with 
what the newspapers called the " Great Trunk Mystery." 
It will be remembered that this man slew his friend, and 
then in a moment of fright dismembered the body and ex- 
pressed it in a trunk to Baltimore, where it soon claimed 



THE WHARTON-KETCHUM CASE AND OTHERS. 275 

investigation. Upon being confronted with the evidence 

of his misdeed, Unger made a full confession in which he 
alleged that he had slain the man in self-defence. As the 
State may not accept part of a confession and reject the 
rest, there was the necessity of accepting that view of the 
situation and sentencing the prisoner to the penalty for the 
minor crime. 

A Mrs. Menzies, tin- wife of James Menzies, a resident 
of Baltimore, was the subject of a series of unaccountable 
persecutions. Attacks were made against her which were 
evidently invented to destroy her life and which only failed 
of their purpose owing to a succession of providential inter- 
positions, which seemed as strange and unfathomable as the 
efforts to do mischief. 

Mrs. Menzies was an estimable woman against whom no 
offence could lie charged. Her character afforded no clue 
to the malice of her unknown assailant. 

'1 he first attack which attracted notice occurred on the 
24th of August, 1880. The lady was standing in the door 
oi her home on Franklin Street, and thinking as little of 
any possible danger as any lad)- similarly situated might do 
to-day, when the quick motion of a man who was passing 
attracted her attention. Before she could realize, however, 
that an\- mischief to herself was meditated, she was struck 
upon the cheek by some missile which gave her sharp pain 
and almost immediately caused the skin to blister. 

Although frightened and stung by this dastardly attack, 
the lad)- was inclined to consider it rather the effect of row- 
dyism than of any more baleful purpose, and while suffering 
somewhat from the effects of it, was not at all seriously 
hurt and anticipated no return of the miscreant. 

But on the evening of the next day, when turning to 
close the front door after bidding adieu to a ladv caller, she 



276 BALTIMORE. 

was again startled by seeing something coming toward her 
which before she could step aside struck her dress. It was 
a phial containing vitriol and the deadly contents spilled 
upon the fabric burned it badly, but failed to come in con- 
tact with the flesh. 

This repetition of the attempt of the day before filled the 
intended victim with terror. What before had seemed like 
the wanton attack of some drunken ruffian was now inter- 
preted to be an incident in a conspiracy to destroy her 
health and perhaps her life. Nor were her friends less 
alarmed. Every means were used to prevent a repetition 
of the assault. A watchman was employed to keep guard 
over the house and find if possible the perpetrator of these 
deeds, but with no effect. 

Two days went by and Mrs. Menzies began to recover 
somewhat from her alarm, as no further attempt to harm 
her had been made. Nervousness had in a measure given 
place to a feeling of security, and it was thought that possi- 
bly after all, the sudden appearance of some crazy man 
might have been followed by his as sudden departure from 
the neighborhood. 

On the third day, while sitting in her parlor, the perse- 
cuted woman was startled by having a small paper parcel 
thrown through the open window into the room. In alarm 
she made a hasty exit and summoned assistance. The pack- 
age which had failed of its purpose was in the nature of an 
infernal machine, constructed with considerable care and in- 
genuity. Its outerwrapperwas a paper soaked in turpentine 
and partly filled with a green powder, besides containing an 
arrangement of matches and sand-paper. The unquestion- 
able purpose was to set fire to the occupant of the room if 
possible, and failing in this to create a blaze around her. 
Owing to the poor aim of the assassin and the prompt 



THE WHARTON-KETCHUM CASE AND OTHERS. 277 

action of Mrs. Menzies this attempt also failed to accom- 
plish its purpose. 

In the whole range of criminal attacks I hardly know of 
one on a person in private life which will exceed this one. 
Certainly nothing could have given greater alarm to the 
persecuted lady or her family. The throwing of the bomb 
was not, however, the last effort of the miscreant by any 
means. 

From the time that the infernal machine came flying 
through her parlor window the unhappy victim of persecu- 
tion resolved to avoid the front of the house altogether. 
Not daring to appear out of doors, or even at the windows, 
and becoming a close prisoner in the rear of the house in 
mid-summer, was the distressing condition to which Mrs. 
Menzies was now reduced. The situation was almost un- 
bearable. At the rear of the house was a yard surrounded 
by a brick wall, and upon this circumscribed landscape 
opened a window which was thus apparently protected fully 
against an}' invader. At this window, in order to get what 
little air might be stirrino-, she sat. 

No imprisoned lad)-, shut up in a feudal castle, was ever 
more really a prisoner than was Mrs. Menzies. But at her 
brick-guarded window at least she felt safe. Judge then 
what must have been her horror, when a strange man sud- 
denly ran into this secluded little domain, and evidently 
knowing her position accurately, threw vitriol again upon 
her, this time with better aim, burning her body as well as 
her clothing, and adroitly escaping before she could see or 
recognize his features. 

Mr. Menzies redoubled his efforts to capture or discover 
the scoundrel who was thus making his wife's existence 
miserable, but without success. The whole affair, after the 
fourth attempt, w-as as deeply clothed in mystery as after 



27 6 BALTIMORE. 

the first. At no time had the victim seen her assailant 
clear enough to recognize him beyond the fact that she was 
confident that it was a man. 

As though vitriol and inflammable bombs were not fiend- 
ish enough, the persecutes unable to accomplish his pur- 
pose otherwise, exercised his ingenuity in another direction, 
and again the unseen hand warded danger from the help- 
less woman. 

On Saturday, the 30th of August, a ring at the door-bell 
sounded while Mr. Menzies was away, and the usual scru- 
tiny, induced by fear, having failed to disclose any one more 
terrible than a small boy, the door was opened and the ur- 
chin admitted. He was a messenger, he said, sent by Mr. 
Menzies with some sweet rusks which he thought his wife 
would enjoy. He had found them at a confectioner's and 
considered them particularly good, said the messenger. 

Mrs. Menzies supposed the boy to be one employed by 
her husband at his office, so she took the rusks from him 
without question. They looked very inviting, but as for- 
tune would have it, the wife was not hungry enough to nib- 
ble the sweet evidences of her husband's thoughtfulness. 
She laid them aside therefore until dinner-time and had al- 
most forgotten them when something which was said dur- 
ing dinner reminded her of them and she rose and got the 
rusks, placing them on the table and thanking him jokingly 
for his very polite attention to her tastes. As she pro- 
ceeded the gentleman first looked puzzled, then terrified. 

"You have not eaten any of them ?" he said. His wife 
answered that she had not, and alarmed at his evident sus- 
picion said. " Why, did you not send them?" 

" No," was the emphatic reply. 

In an instant both saw the diabolical plot that had been 
made and how nearly it had succeeded. The rusks were 



THE WHARTON-KETCHUM CASE AND OTHERS. 279 

carefully removed for examination, and upon being analyzed 
proved to have been plentifully "sugared" with arsenic. 

As there seemed to be no safety in seclusion the lady 
went out to call the evening of the second day following. 
She had been suffering from sore throat, but having only a 
short distance to go, thought she might do so with impunity. 
Her husband was down town when she went out, having 
been detained on business, but when she returned she 
found evidence that he had been back and had been 
thoughtful of her health and comfort, for on her dressing- 
table was a package containing a small bottle of cough 
medicine and a note directing her to take a spoonful 

Had it not been for former experiences, the prussic acid 
with which the phial was afterwards found to have been 
filled, would no doubt have done its fatal work, but wisdom 
had come with experience ami she prudently concluded to 
wait for her husband's return. 

Whether the would-be assassin made up his mind after 
this venture that the lady bore a charmed life or whether 
retribution for some other and more successful crime over- 
took him will probably never be known. The throat medi- 
cine was the last thing attempted, and from that day the 
persecution ceased as suddenly and mysteriously as it had 
begun, leaving no clue as to the lunatic or fiend who had 
been engaged in it. 

Without doubt few pr^ple have ever had within the 
space of one short week, so much cause to believe in spe- 
cial Providences. 




CHAPTER XVIII. 

A CHAPTER OF CHAT. 

HE very recent overturning of the New 
York police force and the fact that the cap- 
tains of different precincts, as well as others, 
have been generally shifted around, suggests 
a comment. The only wise course, indeed 
the only possible course, to pursue in such a 
case as that, is to make a general change; not 
to discharge men who may be subject to the 
suspicion of having gotten too well acquainted with their 
districts. There used to be, and perhaps still is, a curious 
custom followed by the proprietor of the New York Her- 
ald. Newspaper men have often told how some fine morn- 
ing everybody in that great hive, except the heads of de- 
partments and those in responsible positions, would be 
gathered around the doors talking, idle, buzzing and hum- 
ming in a way not unlike a swarm of bees. 

The order had come, as it did come every once in a while, 
from James Gordon Bennett: "Shake things up." Then 
the sub-editors and the art critics and the various styles 
and grades of reporters, together with all the rest of the 



A CHAPTER OF CHAT. 281 

busy force of the great paper were suddenly discharged— to 
be taken back in an hour or so, each in a different capacity. 

Now that sort of an order may do with a big newspaper, 
but it would never work with a big police department. If 
the individual officer is derelict in his duty let him be re- 
lieved at once, but no force that has been drilling for years 
can be replaced in a day or week or month. The work of 
organizing a police force is like the work of growing an or- 
chard — it takes time. 

Not long ago some one asked where our navy was. A 
patriotic American at once replied : " Why, how can you 
ask? Have you been asleep? Have you never seen the 
"Baltimore" and the " New York" and all the rest of our 
new cruisers? Don't you know that the country has spent 
millions of dollars to build and equip war vessels which 
shall take away our ' No navy ' reproach and equal anything 
of their class in the world ?" " Yes," said the questioner, 
quietly, " I know all about the new cruisers, I see the new 
ships — but where is the navy ?" 

All the appliances and conveniences and ordinances in 
the world will not make an efficient navy or army or police 
department till you have secured trained men to accompany 
them. 

And when this is done and the work all seems to be well 
in hand, some critic arises and says : " Oh ! yes, the police 
had better pay less attention to display and more to keep- 
ing down vice :" just as if vice ever could be kept down as 
long as vicious men exist. You cannot legislate it out 
of existence. It is a wound that can be dressed and cov- 
ered up and hidden from sight, but cannot be cured until 
the body is entirely restored to a health)- condition, and 
that cure it does not seem to be within the province of the 
police to effect. 



282 BALTIMORE. 

I often hear it said that the police department might 
root out certain forms of vice if they only would. People 
sometimes have been known to insinuate that policemen 
are often in league with law-breakers and shield them in- 
stead of punishing" them. This is a very unreasonable and 
incorrect view to hold, because it is not true and can only 
be made by those who are not acquainted with the facts. 

Now there are certain forms of vice that seem to be in- 
herent in depraved human nature. They have grown into 
our civilization to such an extent that it is practically im- 
possible to eradicate them. Vice may be curtailed and 
crowded into narrow limits by legislation and the proper 
enforcement of law ; but not until some other influence 
has changed the appetites of men will certain forms of evil 
be done away. 

One or two incidents which occur to me will illustrate 
the difficult)- of dealing with organized vice. Several years 
ago, there was a region in the vicinity of the present Cal- 
vert Station which was known as the " Meadows." Here 
in a narrow radius, was hived the greatest part of the iniq- 
uity of our city — gambling-dens, dance-houses, saloons and 
places of worse repute abounded on every street and al- 
ley. It was perhaps all a man's life was worth to go 
through the " Meadows" after night ; but everybody knew 
where it was and respectable people gave these streets a 
wide berth and sought their destination by a longer and 
safer route. 

In course of time the Northern Central Railroad sought 
a terminus in our city and placed their station where it 
now is, in the very heart of our " Five Points." After 
travel commenced over this road, passengers arriving at 
Calvert Station were obliged to pass through this sink in 
order to reach their hotels or homes. Frequent and loud 



2S4 BALTIMORE. 

waited upon me and made complaint that she was keeping 
a house out of character with the street in which it is 
located — " They have given me evidence that you are up to 
your old tricks again." 

The woman protested her innocence of the charge made 
against her and ended with defying the whole city to prove 
that her house was not respectable. 

I told her that I could already prove that it was not and 
I urged her to save me and herself trouble by moving out 
of that street. 

She flatly refused to do it and politely told me to my 
face that she did not fear my proofs nor my detectives. 

It is not necessary to say more than that in the course of 
a month we had our evidence all complete. I then took 
the documents to the Grand Jury myself and laid the case 
before them. They promptly indicted her and I congratu- 
lated myself upon getting rid of the nuisance with compar- 
atively little trouble. 

A day or so after I called on the prosecuting attorney 
and learned to my utter surprise that he had entered nolle 
prosequi in the case. I asked him why he had done so, and 
he replied that a prominent official had waited on him and 
convinced him that there was nothing in the charw and 
that it had been trumped up to annoy a well-meaning and 
innocent woman. 

I told the attorney that he had been misinformed and 
showed him my proofs in the case, and told him how the 
woman had brazenly defied the law in my office. He was 
quite surprised at the array of testimony I had collected 
and went himself that day and had her re-indicted upon the 
same charee. 

Two days later the woman waited upon the foreman of 
the Grand Jury and labored with him about the case. She 






A CHAPTER OF CHAT. 2S3 

complaints were made that the " Meadows" must be mowed 
and the unsavory crops gathered in. Finally it was done. 
< hie after another the dens of infamy were closed and the 
" meadows " drained. But what was the result ? East and 
west and south they went and set up their brothels in 
every part of the city. The polyp was divided and true to 
its nature every part sprung forth again with life and to-day 
with our growing city we have a dozen "meadows," if not 
as thriving and bold and dangerous as the old, yet at least 
sufficiently troublesome and dangerous. 

Then again it is very hard to prove a case against expe- 
rienced law-breakers of this class. Not long since com- 
plaints reached the Department that a house of unsavory 
character had been opened in one of the most fashionable 
quarters of our city. The complaint was made by a com- 
mittee of citizens living in the locality and their testimony 
was the most assuring kind of indirect evidence, such evi- 
dence as a skillful lawyer would pare down to nothing. We 
sent a detective to the house and learned that it was being 
kept by a woman whose house had been closed but a few 
months before by us. We recognized in her one of the 
wiliest women of her class and we made preparations for a 
long, hard fight. 

We sent for the captain in whose district the house was 
located and gave him orders to see her and try to get her 
to move away. The captain said he did not think he 
could accomplish anything with the woman, who would act 
the part of an injured innocent ; but he went as directed. 

Within an hour the woman was before me with a look 
of surprise in her face and an interrogation point in every 
action. She seated herself complacently, folded her pretty 
hands and said : " Marshal, what would you like ?" I ex- 
plained to her that a committee of citizens had recently 



A CHAPTER OF CHAT. 285 

protested her innocence of the charge and implored him to 
withdraw the indictment. He told her that the proofs were 
incontrovertible and that the case would have to go to trial. 
Some things which he said so thoroughly frightened her 
that before she was arraigned in court she not only moved 
out of that street, but out of the city, to parts unknown. 

Does any one realize, I am sometimes tempted to ask, 
how many ways there are of showing a disposition to fraud 
and how prone some people become to try to overreach or 
deceive? We are almost constantly in receipt of letters and 
communications from people who, sometimes in direct and 
more frequently in roundabout ways, try to prove the truth 
of the doctrine of total depravity. The curious part of 
most of these cases is that the effort to cover up a blunder 
or a fault by lying about it involves ten times as much 
labor and ingenuity as it would have done to avoid the 
irregularity in the first place. Occasionally a mere love for 
notoriety prompts an elaborate scheme to mislead the offi- 
cers of the law, as in the case of one young man who 
several years ago cut his clothing and even bruised his own 
body to give a semblance of truth to a perfectly mendacious 
story of attack, — a story which he afterwards confessed to 
have no foundation in fact. 

Sometimes these frauds are precocious. A case of 
alleged kidnapping, which promised at first to be very in- 
teresting, was reported to us several years ago and we ex- 
pected some work to ferret the matter out ; hut in the end 
it turned out to be a pun- piece of deception on the part of 
a boy, who had absented himself from home after hours 
and wanted to avoid punishment. 

A letter from the youthful miscreant's father informed us 
of the alleged facts of the case and asked for our assistance 



286 BALTIMORE. 

and advice. The advice we were very soon in a position to 
give. His history was in brief this : His little son, eight 
years of age, while sitting on the steps of a public school 
building was approached by a man who pretended to know 
him and was given some candy, after which he was picked 
up forcibly and carried, in spite of his struggles, to a wagon 
standing near, in which he was placed. The wagon con- 
tained two men besides the first, and with a drawn pistol 
these three ruffians ordered him to make no noise, frighten- 
ing him into silence and driving with him out into the 
country somewhere near Druid Hill Park. There fortu- 
nately a man on horseback, whom the boy described as a 
county policeman from the fact of his wearing a badge, 
although he had on no new uniform, discovered that some- 
thing was wrong in the wagon and gave chase. As he 
gained on the wagon the abductors threw the child out on 
the road and drove on. The description given of the 
wagon by the boy was that it was a large covered wagon 
with a white top, drawn by two mules and two horses. One 
of the men was fair complexioned and the other two rather 
dark, but the}' wore something over their faces to hide them 
so he could not see distinctly. He also stated that the 
wagon had ropes and other implements in it. The person 
who rescued the boy gave him in charge of a negro who 
took him within a few blocks of his home and then, refusing 
to accompany him further, left him to find his way alone. 
The letter concluded, after several conjectures as to the 
probable indentity of the miscreants and their purpose, with 
a repetition of the appeal to us to ferret the matter out. 
I reflected that there were several discrepancies in the ac- 
count, or in other words, the urchin's story did not hang to- 
gether. There were certain facts which were not accounted 
for in the case ; in the first place, the abduction could not 



A CHAPTER OF CHAT. 2S7 

have taken place at that time in the evening, at the place 
mentioned, without man}' persons seeing it. Swarms of 
people go home between five and six o'clock, and pass the 
particular street where the boy claimed to have been, and 
an event causing so much necessary excitement as taking a 
boy forcibly and putting him against his will in a wagon 
would have attracted attention and brought help at once. 
Moreover, we learned from inquiry that two officers of that 
district were standing within a few feet of the spot talking 
for several minutes just after five o'clock, and no wagon 
answering the description was seen by them. Then, too, 
the absence of motive on the part of the men was strongly 
against the boy's story. The improbability of the re- 
lease — the policeman in citizen's clothes noticing something 
wrong in a covered wagon, such as the one described, and 
running after it to get an explanation, was totally absurd, 
and that the man who exhibited so much alertness in the 
rescue should have afterwards entrusted the boy to a negro 
who would not conduct him home, was not credible. 

The gentleman was requested to report at police head- 
quarters and the discrepancies in his son's statement were 
pointed out to him. He remarked that he had been im- 
posed upon, allowed us to dismiss the case from our dockets 
and went home to settle it himself. 

About ten years ago a man ot some prominence in a cer- 
tain part of Baltimore reported that he had been robbed of 
three thousand dollars. He was passing along one of the 
principal streets, about eleven o'clock, so his story ran, and 
had just turned the corner when some one coming behind 
him struck him upon the head and felled him to the pave- 
ment. Being rendered partially insensible by the blow he 
was unable to protect himself from robbery, but retained 
sufficient consciousness to know that some one was bending 



2S8 BALTIMORE. 

over him and ransacking' his pockets. Before the robber 
was out of sight his victim had recovered sufficiently to call 
loudly for help, but no one came to his assistance, and 
finally as his strength partially returned he managed to 
crawl home. 

One so well known in business circles and so prominent 
socially was of course given immediate credence, and the 
police did all in their power to discover the thief. A de- 
tective was detailed to ferret out the facts of the case, 
and the first fact that he discovered was that at the very 
time that the robbery was said to have taken place a police- 
man was standing on the corner where it was alleged to 
have occurred. It was also made very clear that no one 
could have uttered cries of help in that neighborhood with- 
out having been heard by others. The man stated that he 
had received the three thousand dollars that night in pay- 
ment for some United States bonds which he had sold. 
He readily gave the denominations and numbers of the 
bonds when asked to do so, but it was clearly shown that 
the numbers which he named could not have been in his 
possession, and furthermore that the government had never 
issued a bond of that denomination. The explanation 
came a few months afterwards when the man failed in busi- 
ness, and it was then apparent that the story was concocted 
to give him an excuse to put off his creditors by working 
upon their sympathy. 

Though I do not intend to made a "police book" of this 
volume of recollections, yet I make no apology to my 
readers for occasionally referring to the police and their 
work, so much of the labor of my life having been devoted 
to the force, and through the force to the public. 

Along with the serious and dreadful things which are 
always happening there are some amusing ones that help a 



A CHAPTER OF CHAT. 2S9 

little to relieve the shadow side of life. Our relations with 
those who are just on the edge of the so-called criminal 
classes, people who live by their wits, are most apt to fur- 
nish this kind of amusement. 

There is a man known generally as Miller, though I be- 
lieve he started in life with an unpronounceable Russian 
name, who is an expert in all the various means used by 
sharpers to turn the pockets of the " lambs " inside out. 
Thimblerig, monte, or the wheel, it makes no difference to 
him, he is familiar with them all. Although a Hebrew, 
Miller is hated by that community because his first opera- 
tions in this country were among his race-brethren, who 
trusted him, not wisely, but too well. 

Miller's favorite field of operations is at a county fair or 
a horse-race. At such [daces he is in his element and so 
full of tricks and expedients that instances have been known 
when he has " clone "old rounders. One day a man whom I 
know well as a journalist, a man who had had abundant 
opportunity to be wise in the ways of the wicked, came to 
me and said, " I have just met with a loss and I wouldn't 
have said anything about it only I cannot afford to lose 
the money. A fellow was working some sort of a thimble- 
rig business and won ten dollars from me." 

They say there is no fool like an old fool. I looked at 
the man and I could have hit him he provoked me so, but 
I merely called one of our men up and said, " Is Miller 
around here ? " 

" Yes, sir," he answered. 

" I thought so. Bring him here." 

In a few moments Miller came and was confronted with 
the loser of the ten dollars, who immediately exclaimed, 
"That's the man, sir." 

Then I said, " Miller, you have got this man's money. 
What did you do that for?" 



290 BALTIMORE. 

There was a look of mingled disgust and alarm on the 
Jew's face as he cried — 

" Veil, I didn't vant his money. He would blay, I had 
de sheles and I just got a veller nice ven he comes up and 
tink he shpoil de game. I vish he go avay so I vink an' I 
vink and I vink to him and de more I vink de more he 
vant to blay. So I hab to dake his den dollars ; I don' 
vant his den tollars." 

I told him that he could do as he pleased, but I advised 
him to refund, which he did after a few moments' hesitation. 

At another time a complaint was lodged of some occur- 
rence which had taken place in the city. The thing looked 
like Miller's handiwork and he was sent for. The man who 
was detailed to make the arrest was in the guise of a col- 
lector, but it made no difference, he was met by the Rus- 
sian's wife, who informed him that her spouse was not at 
home. But not satisfied, the officer made a search, which 
resulted in the discovery of Miller hiding behind a door. 

"Ah!" he cried, " yoost look at all dem starving liddle 
Millers." He certainly had a house full of them, but was 
taken in custody in spite of their outcry and spent some 
time in a cell pending his identification. 

However, the cell had another occupant, a friend in dis- 
guise in the person of a very hot little wasp, who showed 
his appreciation of Miller's presence by lighting on the end 
of his nose. The result was that that already large feature 
became abnormally so, swelling" to about twice its natural 
size and so disguising the wearer's face that when he was 
brought out his accuser had great difficulty in identifying 
him. 

The amusing occurrences are not always confined to the 
law-breakers. Once in a while the enforcer of the law also 
comes in for his share, as in the case of a patrolman whose 



A CHAPTER OF CHAT. 291 

hospitality once led him to overstep the strict bounds of pro- 
priety in entertaining- a friend from out of town. The two 
had " bent their elbows" together once or twice too often 
and the friend suggested to the policeman, whom I will call 
Brown, that he needed a nap. 

" I think it would do me good," said Brown, and forth- 
with the pair proceeded to a stable in the neighborhood, 
where a sleigh ottered a tempting lounge. Into this the 
policeman was assisted by his friend, who wanted to don 
his belt, helmet and revolver and take his beat for him; 
but Brown was not so overcome that he could not see how r 
fatal a step that would be. However, he let the other 
make the round without these trappings, just to see that 
everything was going on right. On the way the friend 
met the sergeant, who was looking for his subordinate. 

"Looking for Brown ?" was the inquiry. 

" Yes — where's he gone.''" 

" Oh, if you want Brown I can show you where he is. He's 
drunk as a lord too, — dead drunk." So this faithless fellow 
conducted the officer to where the derelict policeman lay 
sweetly sleeping, wrapped up in the sleigh robes and with 
the bells around his neck. The fact that he was fined fifty 
dollars in the morning did not serve to lessen the slight 
coolness which sprang up between the friends. 

Some time later the same policeman was missing from 
his beat when the sergeant wanted him. This night there 
was a heavy rain storm and the irate sergeant was wet to 
the skin before he had finished his search. At last the cul- 
prit was found calmly waiting in the recess of a doorway 
for the clouds to roll by. His uniform was dry, not a drop 
of water on his helmet and his shoes not damp, though the 
rain had descended in torrents. 

The sergeant looked him over with ill-controlled anger. 



293 BALTIMORE. 

'' What are you doing here? I have hunted for you for the 
last half hour." 

" Sergeant," said the other, impressively, "don't you know 
that it is the first duty of a soldier to keep his uniform 
dry ? " 

That man is no longer on the force. 

A man from Baltimore County once came well recom- 
mended and applied for a position on our force. He was 
appointed patrolman and went on duty. In the course of 
his first day's duties he arrested a man and was obliged 
to inquire the way to the station-house. 

Captain Delanty once had a man on his force who was 
not very well acquainted with "regulations." He went out 
one afternoon in citizen's clothes and found the man lean- 
ing against a lamp post talking with a bystander. The 
Captain stepped up to him and asked if he was ill. " No," 
said the policeman. 

" Well is there anything the matter with the lamp post ?" 

" No, I guess not." 

" Don't you think it would stand alone if you should 
walk on around your beat." 

About this time it began to dawn on the mind of the 
patrolman who the personage was that was talking with 
him, when he exclaimed : 

" Oh, you are the fellow that calls off the names over 
there at the station-house." 

" Yes sir," said the Captain " and it is against the rules for 
you to stop and talk as you were just now doing. You 
must now go on about your business." At quarters the 
Captain again kindly but firmly lectured the officer and had 
no more trouble with him. 



CHAPTER XIX. 




THE STORY OF A REFORMATION. 

HERE is a sad side of life which good peo- 
ple usually shun talking about or even 
knowing about, as though shutting one's 
eyes to an evil would lessen its magnitude or 
serve to check its advance. A very wise and 
tender teacher of men once said to a woman 
who had been detected in vice, " Neither do I condemn 
thee ; go, sin no more." Men of all classes, clergy 
and laymen, have admired the loftiness and gentleness of 
that address. But as for copying it, — why, that is a very 
different matter. Between a Jewish woman of nearly 
two thousand years ago and an American woman in 
Baltimore or some other large city there is a great differ- 
ence which good people are very quick to see. The main 
point of the difference is that there is a common feeling 
which has crystalized in the saying that you cannot touch 
pitch without being defiled. 

Now, let me suggest that that result depends altogether 
upon the way, the spirit in which you touch the pitch. If 
vou take hold with the idea of cleansing some fellow-creat- 



294 BALTIMORE. 

ure from it, it will not defile. The attitude which society 
takes is this : " We condemn you, go and sin again ; there 
is no other course open to you." 

Certainly moral and social disease is hard to cure and is 
a menace to society, hut chiefly, I think because, like most 
epidemics, it finds society in just the condition to be in 
danger from contagion. There are abandoned women who 
are perhaps harder to reach than fallen men are, because 
when a woman sins her sin is more a part of her whole life, 
but there are here and there women who would reform and 
who could be reclaimed were it not for the fact that so- 
ciety resolutely shuts the door by which they try to return 
in their faces and holds it against them. 

I know that this is ,a delicate subject to touch upon ; I 
know that some people will say that it should be left alone. 
I do not agree with them, for while as an officer of the law 
I have mainly to do with vice after it has become criminal, 
that is, after it has come by violation within the power of 
the law, yet sometimes a pathetic story comes to my knowl- 
edge, little by little, detail by detail, till I wish that I could 
tell it to the philanthropists and say to them, " Here is 
your chance; this is out of my line, but quite within your 
province." 

That the difficulties in the way of a reformation are little 
understood or appreciated by the better class of the com- 
munity is illustrated by a case which I take the liberty of 
relating. 

A house of evil repute in Baltimore was the lodging- 
place of a girl who was both beautiful and gifted — I will 
not say it was her home because such a misuse of the word 
would be a profanation ; but it was all the home she had. 
The doors of her own home had been closed against her 
as, both sinning and sinned against, she had drifted out of 



THE STORY OF A REFORMATION'. 295 

respectable life. Perhaps it is not the worst thing that can 
be said of a woman, that she trusted too much to the hon- 
esty of a faithless lover. 

But the plunge was as real and as complete as though 
she had flung herself into the sea. Lost to hope, she read- 
ily became a pre)' to one of the human sharks that are 
lookine for iust such victims, and so was before Ion" an in- 
mate of the house I have spoken of. 

A year or more passed, and the spark of womanliness 
which had never been fully quenched re-asserted itself, till 
the girl's whole nature revolted against the life she was 
leading and the companions among whom she found her- 
self. She longed to break away from it all. The numb 
despair which had at first led her to accept her fate as inev- 
itable gave place to a determination to escape and lead an 
honest life. It was a resolution requiring much of those 
qualities which we are wont to commend — good impulse 
and rare courage. 

There was in Baltimore at that time a man of standing 
and reputation, whose name was the synonym for kindness 
of heart and philanthropy, and to this gentleman the girl 
went in her extremity. 

She told him her whole story, keeping back nothing and 
not trying to extenuate herself in any way ; only that she 
was in the mire anil that she wanted somebody to lend a 
hand to help her out. Would he do it?' 

Her narrative roused the quick sympathy of her listener, 
who took her under his protection and procured for her a 
position in an office where she could become self-support- 
ing. Here one might think the story would naturally end, 
provided the heroine of it stuck to her good resolution, 
but such was far from being the case. 

The facts which I have related were no sooner reported 



296 BALTIMORE. 

at the house which she had left than the proprietress re- 
solved to have her back again. She was too attractive to 
lose while her youth and beauty remained. Afterwards, 
when she had become old and haggard before her time, it 
would be another thing, — but not yet. The girl had left a 
photograph in the possession of the mistress of the house, 
and this was shown to those who frequented the place, who 
were then asked to observe the new clerk at so and so's 
store. That was of course sufficient to make her the com- 
mon talk of a certain class of men who visited the store 
apparently for no other purpose than to stare at her, or 
worse still, to annoy her by their familiarities. This species 
of persecution increased and was carried out upon the 
street and in public conveyances, by people who were insti- 
gated by the mistress of the brothel, till the girl was made 
conspicuous in every possible way. 

Of course the object of this persecution was to secure 
her discharge by making her employers and others believe 
that she was habitually in the company of the notoriously vile. 

She took the wisest means to put a stop to this by going 
at once to her philanthropic friend and having a plain ex- 
planatory talk with him and with one of her employers. She 
told how she had been persecuted, and also about the photo- 
graph which had been used as a weapon against her. She 
professed to have repelled every advance which had been 
made by the men who followed her, and to their credit her 
friends believed her story, promising to see her through the 
difficulty. 

On the day following this conversation with her protec- 
tors, the new clerk saw a man whom she knew well to be 
an unscrupulous though somewhat fashionable fellow, enter 
the store and make his way toward her counter. He asked 
to see some goods, but instead of examining them he took 



THE STORY OF A REFORMATION. 297 

advantage of the remote part of the store to which she had 
gone to address her. He told her that he knew her story 
and that she might as well give up the idea of being respect- 
able and 00 back where she belonged. Proceeding- further, 
he tried to put his arm about her, with the evident idea of 
compromising her in the eyes of her employers. Then 
something occurred which was no doubt a surprise to him. 

When he first began to annoy her, the girl had given a 
signal to one of the cash boys, who called the employer, 
who in his turn summoned two stout porters and awaited 
developments. They had not long to wait. The effort to 
embrace the girl was met by a stinging blow on the assail- 
ant's ear, administered by the proprietor of the place, and 
following this, the porters were ordered to kick him out, 
which they did with such a good will that if he is still alive 
his bones must ache whenever he remembers it. 

That ended the persecution at the store, and upon the 
street it became less. Nothing makes people so respectful as 
the knowledge that one has powerful friends. It is usually 
the friendless man or woman who gets most of the kicks in 
life. 

But those who had undertaken this matter were thor- 
ough in their methods and resolved to have the photograph 
which was the cause of so much of the trouble. That was 
how the matter got to police headquarters. The depart- 
ment informed the young lady's friends that they could not 
compel its restitution, but that we would do all that lay in 
our power to secure it. 

I wrote a note to the woman, stating that the girl had 
left her former life, was now trying to live in an upright 
way and earn an honest livelihood. I requested her to re- 
turn the young woman's picture to me, saying that I would 
mvself U'ive it to her. 



29S BALTIMORE. 

The reply to this note was what I might have expected. 
The woman said that she had caused the picture to be 
taken, that it was her property, and flatly refused to surren- 
der it. It was a defiant note and I determined that she 
should not get the better of me. I stationed an officer on 
the pavement in front of her house, a man who was well ac- 
quainted with the names and persons of Baltimore men, 
and directed him to take the names of all the persons who 
visited the house. He followed my orders to the letter 
and shortly I had a most interesting list. 

The next scene in this little drama was the appearance of 
a dapper young lawyer before the commissioners at police 
headquarters. 

He complained that some officious capta'in of police had 
stationed an officer in front of the house of a helpless 
woman, compelling every one of her visitors to give his 
name. The young man blustered a good deal about 
"flagrant abuses of authority " and all that sort of thing. 
He dwelt especially upon the fact that the poor woman of 
his little tale of woe was being persecuted. 

As a result, the scene shifted again and the marshal was 
before the commissioners being questioned as to his knowl- 
edge and purpose in the affair. I reported upon the case, 
saying that I had every reason to believe that the house 
was not all that it should be, that its inmates were breaking 
the law, and that in anticipating inquiries which I expected 
to have to answer at no distant date I was getting my reply 
ready beforehand. The commissioners upheld the mar- 
shal and the officer continued to add to his long list of 
names. 

The next caller on this subject was a doctor. He did 
not go to the commissioners with his complaint, but came 
to me. He informed me that Madame Blank, living- on 



THE STORY OF A REFORMATION. 299 

such and such a street, was suffering from nervous prostra- 
tion and was in a very critical condition. He expatiated 
upon the result to his patient if the "heavy tread" and 
"conversation with visitors," if my officer were continued. 
Really, if the physician's word was to be credited, the lady 
in question was in a critical condition and the " persecution " 
of the police was the cause, he intimated. Then he argued 
and threatened and begged for the removal of the officer. 

At last I saw that it was time to say something, so I 
opened my case. Said I, " Doctor, I should think the pres- 
ence of an officer in front of the house instead of distress- 
ing your patient would have a contrary effect. Here is a 
list of the people who have been visiting the house for the 
past four or five days. Don't it occur to you that it is a 
pretty long list? Don't you think, Doctor, that Madame 
blank is receiving rather too much company for her good ? 
Here on this list are the names of some of the most noto- 
rious sneaks, thieves and swindlers in this town. She ought 
to feel that she is being protected. 

" Now, sir, J have this to say to you, if Madame Blank 
has anything to say to the police department she had better 
come here herself and say it, and send no more doctors and 
lawyers, for we understand the case thorough!)'." 

The doctor wanted to know if the matter would be 
stopped if the photograph in question was given up, but I 
declined to make any terms with him. So he went away 
and the officer on the sidewalk continued to add to his 
choice collection of names. There were some strange com- 
binations on that roll, I assure you. The man of fashion and 
family was cheek by jowl with the outcast and the criminal. 

It may be stated in passing that the lawyer had made 
a waeer that he would cause the removal of the officer, and 
had drank several bottles of wine on it beforehand. 



3oo BALTIMORE. 

In the afternoon following the last call, the woman her- 
self came in. She had somewhat the air of a tragedy queen 
and showed in her looks and voice a strong disapprobation 
of myself, which I tried to bear up under as well as possible. 
She insisted that her house was perfectly respectable and 
that she was the victim of persecution. I think one or two 
such words as " impertinence" and " officiousness " strayed 
into her speech ; but I let her finish. Then I said, " My 
attention was first called to your house through your treat- 
ment of Miss . You and your friends have been 

very systematic in your attempts to pull her down. I sent 
you a polite request to give up the young lady's picture and 
thus to stop the wicked persecution of a young girl who is 
trying to do right and who has hard enough work, God 
knows, to do it." 

" But, Marshal, the picture is mine. I paid for it and 
have a perfect right to keep it." 

" Yes, the picture is yours, as you say, and I cannot 
demand it unless you choose to give it to me ; but I can 
make an attack upon your business, to which my attention 
has been called by this matter." 

What further became of this woman it is not the object 
of this story to explain. Suffice it to say that at this point 
in the proceedings the picture was produced and sent to 
the young woman. 

There is only one other thing to add to this story of a 
reformation. The girl so wronged, so sinning and sinned 
against, did succeed, as very few do, in winning her way 
back to a respectable life. Her pluck and determination 
must have been unusual. She became a trusted employee, 
and afterwards married one of the head clerks in the store 
where she had made her brave fight for respect. 



CHAPTER XX. 




THE STORY OF EMILY BROWN. 

ALEB BROWN was known throughout the 
neighborhood of Easton, in Talbot Count)-, 
Md., as the proprietor of the "Old Brick 
Hotel." In those days, for it was more 
than half a century ago, people lived in a 
more primitive way than they do now. 
There were few books and still fewer newspapers to wile 
away the time, and people were thrown more upon their own 
.resources for amusement. Those were the times when the 
innkeeper was in his glory ; his tap-room was the gathering- 
place for all the wilder spirits of the town, and any after- 
noon might disclose the immaculate boots of the gentry and 
professional men of the neighborhood ranged in a shining 
row on the piazza rail, while stories and jokes, news and pol- 
itics enlivened the company. Many a fragrant jorum of 
julep, rich with the spicy odor of mint, was quaffed while the 
budget of local happenings or state or national intelligence 
was discussed. 

The inn was the great news centre, the place where 
appointments were made, where bargains were concluded, 



302 BALTIMORE. 

where compacts were formed, and sometimes where more 
serious affairs which the etiquette of the time and place 
demanded were arranged. 

Of course the innkeeper was a man of importance, 
whose discretion had had ample time and opportunity to 
develop and whose judgment was apt to be discriminating. 
That sort of a man was Caleb Brown. 

But in and out among the guests, through the doors, 
amono- the horses in the yard, or careering through the 
porch romped the beings that upset all the order and de- 
corum of the place. 

These were the hotel-keeper's children. Arthur was a 
bright lad, who longed for spurs before he had boots on his 
sturdy little legs, and who knew the story of every fox-hunt, 
duel or hair-breadth escape in the county before he was out 
of short clothes. His youthful eye became experienced in 
telling the good or bad points of a horse or dog, or of a 
man either, for that matter, in which sort of learning a 
hotel is the best possible school to graduate at. But in the 
meantime Arthur Brown did not neglect his books and at a 
later period was able to put to good use the knowledge 
which he acquired. 

While the boy was getting, as boys will, a host of im- 
pressions which were to be of service to him later in life, 
his little sisters were hardly a whit behind him, and I'll war- 
rant that many a brimming glass they carried to some favor- 
ite patron of the house to be teased by a pinch of their 
chubby cheeks or paid with a kiss or a sip of the julep. 

No doubt as the little maids got older and more demure 
the kisses were less openly given and the favors were more 
coyly bestowed, and perhaps instead of the gray moustaches 
who pinched their cheek on the front porch there were 
some younger gallants in a less prominent locality. 



THE STORY OF EMILY BROWN . - 

Thes r e vvere the °' les ^at Caleb Brown was workina and 
saving tun If he planned, it was that Arthur, Bessie" and 
little Emily might have a future as clear from care and as 
free from sorrow as he could make it. And when at last 
the bow of crape fluttered at the knocker of the Old Brick 
Hotel, and men who had known him for years told that 
Caleb brown was dead and recounted his virtues and his 
tailings they were most curious to know whether he had 
provided well for his family. 

It was no fortune that he left, evidently, for work became 
a necessity for both the son and daughters, though not im- 
mediately. Elizabeth married a young man of Eastern 
whose name was William Austin, but Emily, perhaps be- 
cause of some disappointment of her early womanhood 
remained single. 

The trio lived the quiet life of a country town. Arthur 
true- to the promise of boyhood, won a mop- and more 
prominent place in the estimation of the public and at last 
people began to predict great things for the editor and 
proprietor of the Journal, for such he came to be. 

In 1S50 we find the sisters opening a dressmaking and 
millinery establishment, and this they kept up toother for 
sixteen years, when Arthur sold out the farml and 
bought a m,ll property near Richmond, Va Then the 
quiet life of the village, where every one was known to his 
neighbor and all matters were canvassed and discussed was 
broken up. The second chapter in the life of the vou.v 
■"•Her was ended. Arthur was single ; he wis going to live 
in a strange place and it was a day when few people of any 
account boarded, so Emily went to Richmond to keep 
house for him. l 

For eleven years brother and sister lived together carina 
for each other and each taking a share of work and respond 



304 BALTIMORE. 

sibility, he at his mill and she around the house. No doubt 
they were the most contented, happy years of her life, 
though perhaps even then there may have been some pre- 
monition of the trouble which was aiterwards to settle 
down over it, drawing closer and closer till it should utterly 
envelop and destroy her. 

In 1877 Arthur died. Her knowledge of property, and 
of legal forms was very meagre, so that out of what he had 
worked to establish she could recover nothing-, and finally 
drifted away from Richmond and was forgotten by those 
who had known her there. 

People sometimes drop out of life that way. It is one of 
the saddest things that can occur, when a home is broken up 
and the woman who has been at the head of it drops out. 
Where do the people go who disappear so every once in a 
while ? Listen to the sequel. Perhaps Emily Brown's 
story is not a solitary one. 

Merchants doing business on Baltimore Street began to 
notice in '79 a woman of about fifty years of age who so- 
licited alms of the charitable. To those who would listen to 
her, she told a pitiful story. She had seen better days, and 
bitterly did she rail against those who she claimed had de- 
frauded her by keeping from her her brother's property. 

There was a suggestion of fallen respectability about the 
woman that touched many hearts and she often received 
liberal charity, but after a while it was noticed that her 
speech was maudlin and her eyes bleared. These evident 
marks of indulgence in liquor got to be more and more fre- 
quent, till pity gave place to disgust and the coins that were 
dropped into her outstretched hand were few. 

If any one had followed that wretched creature some 
night, he would have found her going to a miserable den 
in a place known as " Pig Alley." There a negress lived 



THE STORY OF EMILY BROWN. 305 

whose name was Mary Bluxom. She had been a slave 
once and was the mother of eighteen children, of whom 
the eldest was a repulsive brute called Ross, her son by a 
former marriage. In this abode of squalor, herding with 
children of a former slave, Emily Brown made her home. 
Home ! it is a degradation of that sacred word to apply it 
to such a hovel and such surroundings. But it was all that 
the daughter of the Easton hotel-keeper, the sister of the 
editor and mill-owner, the respected milliner of the quiet 
Maryland village, could now call her own. 

Reeling, besotted with spirits and debauched by opium, 
who could recognize in the gray, haggard beggar woman 
the blythe little child that had played in the porch of the 
Old Brick Hotel? 

Two dollars and a half a week she had agreed to pay 
Mary Bluxom, but even that meagre sum was more than 
she could compass. Gradually she gave less and less, till 
finally she was in debt, living on sufferance — on the unwil- 
ling charity of the least respectable negroes. 

Probably no sadder story could be written than this, but 
the last act of the tragedy added a peculiar horror to what 
has already been narrated. 

Living with the Bluxom woman was a half-paralyzed 
negro, named Perry, who was employed about the Maryland 
University, and into his depraved mind came the idea of not 
only getting rid of the useless old white woman, but of 
also making something by the transaction. At least, that 
was the story told by Ross, who in an evil moment killed 
old Emily, in order to oell her body for the dissecting- 
room. Ross claimed that his tempter was Perry, whose 
promise of fifteen dollars was the inducement to commit 
the crime. 

It would serve no useful purpose to harrow the reader's 



306 BALTIMORE. 

feelings by a recital of the details of this sad affair. Noth- 
ing' could better show the evil possibilities of human nature 
than the callous indifference with which the slayer disposed 
of his victim. 

The doctors, upon examination of a subject brought to 
them, discovered what they thought to be indisputable 
signs of violence, and immediately reported the case to us. 
Our first care was to ascertain whether any one answering 
the description given had disappeared within a day or two, 
and a thorough search was instituted. Finally it was 
found that old Emily Brown, who had been living for the 
last year or more in Pig Alley, had disappeared from her 
accustomed haunts, and little Sarah Bluxom was taken to 
identify the body. This she did fully, her recognition of 
the clothing worn by Emily, and especially of a curious red 
patch on her dress, being unhesitating. 

Nor did the child stop there, but told how " Uncle 
Perry," who had received the subject, was an inmate of the 
same house, and that Emily had given him his coffee on 
the morning before. 

This information, of course, led at once to Perry's arrest 
and incarceration. He refused at first to talk, but after 
awhile expressed a desire to see Deputy Lannan, who had 
been directly engaged in his arrest. He weakened and 
implicated Ross as the man who had done the deed, and in 
a few hours we had Ross and a companion named Hawkins, 
against whom, however, there was not sufficient condemna- 
tory proof. 

Ross's confession followed. It was full and complete, 
and was given without inducements, promises or threats on 
our part. He was condemned, sentenced and executed, 
but the trial of Perry did not result in his conviction, and 
he was finally liberated. 



THE STORY OF EMILY BROWN. 307 

'I his crime has usually hern alluded to as the great 
" Burking rase," a name derived from the fact that a noto- 
rious wretch named Burke, who lived in England, was in 
a like manner a procurer of bodies for dissecting-rooms. 
J lappily, the method is too fiendish for our land, and I 
rejoice to say that the incident just recited stands almost, if 
not quite, alone in the criminal annals of America. 

It used to he the fashion on the stage to follow a blood- 
curdling tragedy with a roaring farce ; perhaps with a 
humane idea of saving the nerves of the audience from 
too heavy a strain. 

The farce for this tragedy was furnished l>y some colored 
people of Baltimore, who prepared what they no doubt 
regarded as a highly instructive amateur dramatic perform- 
ance, of which the title was " Uncle Perry's Plot." It was 
played by the " Rosebud Socials," at Hollins Hall, and the 
performers, as well as the audience, were all colored people. 

'I he hall was filled with an eager crowd, and when the 
curtain went up, prolonged applause greeted the appear- 
ance of Ross and Hawkins. True to their color, the vil- 
lains were playing "keerds" in a solemn manner, when 
I ncle Perry came limping up to tin- old wash-bench, which 
did dut)' as stage furniture, and said in a blood-curdling 
whisper, "Don't you boys want some money for Christ- 
mas ? " 

The audience; looked at the old man ami shuddered. 
Field, who took the star [tart (and who, by tin- way, also 
played the sheriff), was "made-up" in a way that defies 
description ; his face was ornamented with a black bristling 
beard mottled with gray, and his features were judiciously 
disguised with painted lines and wrinkles that made him as 
hideously evil-looking as possible. 

Here were three villains on the sta^e at the outset 



308 BALTIMORE. 

three undisguised, unmistakeable villains. Undoubtedly 
there was going to be enough " thrill " about the play to 
satisfy the most exacting. 

The card-players stopped their game to gaze at the arch 
conspirator. Their faces betrayed so many lively emotions 
that the audience worked all its countenances in sympathy. 
Not a breath disturbed the silence as Perry continued, except 
for a titter from some hysterical yellow girl in a corner : 

" Yer know dat ole Emily Brown, down to you all's 
house, John? Bring her body up to de hospittle and we'll 
get five dollars apiece fo' it. Yer know de way to de back 
do'. I'se done wuss tings dan dat. Wha' you 'spose I am 
all dese nights? Standin' at de hospittle do' wid dis stick. 
When I sees a man oomin' along I knocks him in de haid 
an' drags him in. Dat's de way I fix 'em. Good-bye, boys 
— think of what I say to you-all." 

Certainly, nothing could be more perfectly to the point 
than this. There were no words wasted about it, and Ross 
and Hawkins, as well as the audience, seemed to be greatly 
impressed with it. They discussed the situation in their 
deepest and most sepulchral tones, that made the " cold 
shivers" creep up and down the backs of all the old women 
in the hall. 

Finally they agreed to do as " Uncle Perry" suggested, 
and solemnly shaking hands, made their exit. 

They had hardly gone when the intoxicated Emily 
Brown reeled on to the stage from the other side. The 
fact that her head was turned from the audience, and half 
hidden, besides, in the folds of her shawl, did not take 
away from the interest, and even the two feet, more or 
less, of plaid trouser-legs that protruded from beneath the 
ragged hem of the patched skirt, were powerless to destroy 
the illusion. 



THE STORY OF EMILY BROWN. 309 

She fell into a chair and leaned her head forward, when 
Ross entered with an ominous-looking stuffed brick, which 
he held aloft with his rieht hand, while his features were 
contorted in a way that would have done credit to Edwin 
Booth. 

Unfortunately Ross's shoes creaked, but Emily seemed 
to be too sound asleep to hear them. When the property 
brick fell, the victim's body shuddered with a convulsive 
throe, and everybody in the hall did the same. 

Then Hawkins appeared and proceeded to harrow the 
sensibilities of the audience still further by showing his 
dexterity with a knife (or a razor, perhaps it was). 

Unfortunately, Emily turned the wrong way when she 
fell, and destroyed the illusion at this critical point by 
grinning at some girls in the front row in a manner that 
threatened to lift the entire top of her head off. It was 
noticed that Emily looked very young and brown and mas- 
culine indeed. 

After this the unfortunate beggar was put into a sack 
which was several sizes too small, and trundled off the 
stage in a wheelbarrow that couldn't begin to contain her, 
so that the checkered trousers hung over the edge, to the 
intense delight of the audience. 

The next scene was even worse. Ross was brought out 
to be hung. But the stage carpenter had tailed somewhat 
in his duty, and owing either to the fact that Ross was too 
large or the stage too small, the scaffold was decidedly a 
misfit. 

The sheriff (who by this time had changed his black and 
gray beard for a moustache) said to the prisoner: 

"John Thomas Ross, is you prepared to die? Die you 
mus'. De clock has jus' struck twelve an' de hour of yo' 
execution is arrive." There was a good deal more to the 



310 BALTIMORE. 

same purpose, and then the obliging John Thomas folded 
up his legs so as to accommodate himself to his surround- 
ings, and was gazing disconsolately over the top of the 
cross-bar of the scaffold while the supes concluded the 
arrangements for his execution. At the last moment an 
unexpected reprieve, not intended by the playwright, was 
effected by the breaking of the rope with which the sheriff 
was supposed to work the drop, and the collapse of that 
individual, while the band played a hymn and the audience 
expressed their delight at the climax. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



IX RECENT YEARS. 




ALTIMORE celebrated the hundred and 
fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the 
city in 1SS1. The event actually should 
have been on the 12th of January, but in 
order to have fine weather it was post- 
poned until October, beginning on Monday, 
the nth, and lasting till Tuesday of the 
following week. The city appropriated ten thousand dollars, 
and more than twenty thousand were donated by pri- 
vate individuals for the purpose of beautifying public build- 
ings, squares, etc., and for other expenses of a great scenic 
festival. Besides this there was at least twenty times this 
sum expended in the decoration of private houses and 
places of business. More than a third of the dwellings 
and nearly all the business houses in the city were dressed 
for the occasion. Everywhere one could see the colors of 
the Calvert family, orange and black, and the national red, 
white and blue, intertwined. Ten triumphal arches spanned 
the principal streets. More than half of the city's appropri- 
ation was spent in the immediate neighborhood of the city 



312 BALTIMORE. 

hall and the adjacent buildings, which presented a beautiful 
appearance. 

Very seldom in Baltimore or any other city has there 
been on such an occasion a parade of such magnitude and 
beauty as that which drew a delighted multitude of sight- 
seers to every window, doorway and point of vantage on 
the first day of the festivities. 

The Baltimore oriole, that brilliant bird which darts 
from tree to tree in the orchard, carrying always the Cal- 
vert colors on its back, is not more lively or joyous than 
were the women and children that made the air ring with 
their applause as the mammoth parade swept by. There 
were nearly half a million of these spectators, many of them 
strangers from a distance, attracted by the announcement 
of the unusual pageant. 

Ten thousand horses, three times that number of men, 
and an endless train of vehicles marched and pranced and 
rolled hour after hour through the ranks of spectators, like 
a river flowine between living banks. 

It has been estimated that this great demonstration was 
at least eight miles long, as it took five hours to pass a 
given point. The whole week was given up to such spec- 
tacles. On one occasion ten thousand school-boys in line 
made a merry scene as they marched with all the vivacity 
and enthusiasm of youth ; then too the Knights Templars 
in uniform, the civic functionaries, military, visiting organ- 
izations, naval detachments and many other bodies took 
their part in one or another of the daily processions. 

The events of the week included a celebration of the 
introduction of water from the Gunpowder river into the 
citv. Battle Monument was the centre of the display on 
this occasion and by an ingenious arrangement of pipes it 
became a wonderful fountain, from which spouted more 



IN RECENT YEARS. 313 

than a thousand streams of water. Near by was a tunnel, 
out of which an artificial river flowed in a series of cascades. 
This beautiful sight was greeted with the wildest enthusiasm. 

The number of strangers grew till it became a question 
what should be done with them. To feed and lod<re them 
stretched the city's capacity to the utmost, since there were 
altogether quite as many visitors as inhabitants. 

The decoration of the shipping in the port on Saturday 
was perhaps the most interesting and certainly among the 
most beautiful of that gay week. There were miles of bunt- 
ing and a perfect forest of spars, while steam craft, great 
and small, from the tiny launch to the naval vessels, were 
hurrying hither and thither with an uproar as though all 
the noises that had been lost since the founding of the city 
had suddenly been discovered, collected and let loose in 
Baltimore harbor. One of the special features of this part 
of the affair was the torpedo practice on the part of those 
belonging to the warships, and another was a naval parade, 
in which half a hundred steam tugs, decorated for the occa- 
sion, participated. The fite concluded with a general illu- 
mination of Baltimore. Public buildings, private houses, 
places of business were all made gay with lights of various 
colors, the result being literally magnificent. It was a 
worthy effort, most successfully carried out, and was a credit 
to the city. 

The great Oriole parade was composed principally of 
tableaux on floats, the subjects being historic, allegorical 
and illustrative. One represented Lafayette and the ladies 
of Baltimore ; another pictured the pyramids of Egypt, 
while a third showed Doctor Kane's party in the ice fields 
of the Arctic region. At one time the spectators were inter- 
ested in Columbus anxiously looking for a new world some- 
where along Baltimore Street, and following this came 



3 i4 BALTIMORE. 

Pocahontas in her favorite act of the rescue of John Smith. 
When the performers got tired of their enforced inactiv- 
ity the tableaux became vivant, and Columbus fully earned 
the reward promised for his discovery, while John Smith 
was in imminent danger of losing his head. There were 
in all forty of these pictures. 

A party of distinguished Frenchmen, of whom the Mar- 
quis de Rochambeau was the leader, were the guests of the 
city, and both the fleur-de-lis and the tri-color of France 
were mingled with the stars and stripes and the oriole hues 
of Baltimore. 

On the 14th of June, 1881, Baltimore saw the departure 
of the main body of one of the most remarkable expeditions 
that the world has ever known, and one which three years 
later set not only the United States but all the civilized 
world aeoe, callino- forth from sovereigns and private citi- 
zens alike expressions of interest almost without parallel. 
I refer to the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, commonly 
known as the Greely Arctic Expedition. 

First-Lieutenant Greely was to take charge of the party 
at St. Johns, Newfoundland. Second-Lieutenant Lock- 
wood was in command of the expedition when it left here 
on the steamer " Nova Scotia." 

The purpose of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition was 
to establish a station for meteoric and other observations 
within the Arctic circle, to be recorded at the same time 
with those made by expeditions sent out by other nations. 
Nearly all of the great powers took part in this work, in 
which at first the United States was very tardy in joining, 
till General Hazen having been called to the charq-e of the 
department directing such affairs, used his personal influ- 
ence and labor to promote an object so important to science 
and so creditable to the nation. 





HI 

a 
en 
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>> 
w 



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J8H_ 



IX RECENT YEARS. 3 , 5 

Professor Daniel C. Oilman, of the Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, with other prominent people, took a lively interest 
in the projected scientific work, and nothing but the short 
time occupied in Baltimore before the sailing of the " Nova 
Scotia" prevented this interest taking tangible form. 

The history of the adventures, sufferings and subsequent 
rescue of the Greely party, reads like a dreadful romance. 
Nothing related of the half mythological characters, the 
knights and paladins of the so-called days of chivalry, can 
begin to compare with the quirt, unassuming bravery of 
these Americans, who, following in the footsteps of Kane 
and his successors, outdid those great spirits in their record 
of suffering and fortitude. 

This is no place to tell over again the story of an Arctic 
expedition, yet a few words of reference to this one, to 
refresh the memories of those who found the account at the 
time of absorbing interest, may be pardoned me. 

Lieutenant Greely's party proceeded from St. Johns to 
Lady Franklin Hay in the steamer " Proteus." The season 
was exceptionally favorable, and a house was built in which 
two years' provisions were left. The great mistake — a 
fatal mistake, indeed — was in not establishing an intermedi- 
ate supply station, to be regularly visited by vessels from 
the United States. The main part)- passed two winters at 
this station, where constant observations were made, two 
complete sets being prepared. From this point Lieutenant 
James B. Lockwood, who was in charge upon leaving Balti- 
more, made a sledge journey to the north coast of Green- 
land, and after a most careful exploration then pushed still 
further toward the pole, reaching, after great hardship, the 
farthest point north ever visited by man, so far as we know. 
Dr. Pavey also did some exploring work from the station. 

Several relieving vessels were sent out from the United 



3 i6 BALTIMORE. 

States and failed to arrive, and in August of 1883, the com- 
mander started for Smith Sound, where at Cape Sabine the 
party slowly starved to death, only a very few of that brave 
company living till Commander Schley found them, and 
they were then in such a pitiable condition that the rescuers 
could not refrain from shedding tears as they saw them. 

Both Lockwood and Pavey, with many a brave companion, . 
had laid down their lives in that barren, frozen country, but 
there were few, either of the living or the dead, that did not 
exhibit such prodigies of high courage, helpfulness and 
unselfish devotion, loyalty to duty, and restraint, that one 
could not ask to place before the youth of this land more 
noble examples for their emulation. As long as Americans 
retain a feeling of honest pride in the men who have 
honored the nation by their deeds, the expedition which 
started from Baltimore a little more than eleven years ago 
will not be forgotten. 

The majority of people, looking at the gradual develop- 
ment of a city, would be apt to express surprise at the lack 
of great or startling events in its history. Baltimore, more 
than most places, has had its exciting episodes and inci- 
dents, and yet as several years elapse without anything of 
historic moment having occurred, we are apt to question the 
wisdom of a chronicle of small happenings, forgetting that 
importance is only a relative term, and a matter does not 
need to be of national importance in order to be interesting. 

Unhappily, the record of wrong-doing often presents its 
claim for recognition, and the brief fame of a dereliction in 
duty is prolonged for the lesson it teaches. 

The Senate and the House of Representatives in 1890 
elected Stephenson Archer Treasurer for the State. It 
was his third term and no suspicion had ever been breathed 
against him. His popularity was evinced by the fact that 



IN RECENT YEARS. 317 

out of a total of one hundred and eight votes he received 
seventy-three. 

But on the ninth of March, two months after his re-elec- 
tion, the State Comptroller, L. Victor Baughman, wrote to 
Governor Jackson, charging Mr. Archer with irregularities 
as Treasurer, as evidenced by his accounts and in other 
ways. He stated a belief that the Treasurer had taken se- 
curities belonsringr to the sinkin'g fund of the State and had 
hypothecated them for unlawful purposes. 

Of course such a charge as that, coming from such a 
source, roused the most instant and bitter discussion. A 
joint committee, composed of members of both the upper 
and lower houses, was appointed to investigate the matter 
thoroughly. The gentlemen who sat upon Mr. Archer's 
case were Senators John P. Poe, John Walter Smith and 
Delegates Frank T. Shaw, Philip D. Laird and William C. 
Harnton. 

As this committee proceeded with its work it found 
heavy deficits. At every step new evidences of an unhappy 
breach of trust came to light. Not only were bonds be- 
lonoino- to the sinking fund "one but a number of coupons 
were also missing. The members of the committee, who 
had gone into the work, as every man must enter upon such 
a duty, with strong disinclination and a hope that the ac- 
cused was the victim of an error, before long were con- 
fronted with sufficient evidences of guilt upon which to 
base an adverse report. 

A resolution was thereupon introduced in the House to 
impeach the Treasurer, but that body showed its view of 
the subject by voting the motion down. Considerable feel- 
ing was shown upon the subject and the attitude of his 
friends had somewhat the effect of bolstering Mr. Archer's 
sinking courage. At all events he sent in his resignation 



3 i8 BALTIMORE. 

from the official position he had occupied, and couched it in 
language which implied that a stricter attention to its own 
affairs would become the House. 

The Treasurer said that the boxes which held the sink- 
ing fund securities were under his own exclusive control, 
and added : " Any irregularities in these boxes is attributa- 
ble to me alone. If this cannot be explained I must sub- 
mit myself to the majesty of the law." 

( )n the advice of Attorney-General Wm. Pinkney Whyte 
Governor Jackson refused to accept the tendered resigna- 
tion. Following this as a natural sequence came the arrest 
of the defaulting Treasurer. The officer charged with this 
duty went to Mr. Archer's home in Harford County, near 
Bel Air, only to find the man too ill to be removed from 
his own house, so he was guarded there and kept a pris- 
oner. Mr. Archer was cited to appear before the Governor 
to answer to the grave charge of malfeasance in office and 
misappropriation of the funds of the State. The Legisla- 
ture, before adjourning, empowered a committee appointed 
for the purpose, to sift the matter thoroughly. At the 
time specified in the citation the accused failed to appear 
and was removed from office. On the fifteenth of April 
Governor Jackson appointed Edwin H. Brown to fill the 
vacancy. The new incumbent was from Queen Anne's 
County. 

In Baltimore, when the case was tried, three indictments 
were found against Archer. The securities had been dis- 
posed of in Baltimore and the amount charged was $132,- 
401.25. The indictment on which it was decided to try 
the delinquent officer was based on Section Eighty of Arti- 
cle Twenty-seven of the Code. Judge Stewart, however, 
on the same question sustained a demurrer, declaring that 
the section in question did not apply to the State Treas- 



IN RECENT YEARS. 319 

urer. This decision the Court of Appeals reversed, as the 
Court held that money and evidences of debt belonging to 
the State had been misappropriated and that Archer was 
bound to account for the same. The official bond was re- 
sponsible in a civil action and the defaulter was held to be 
criminally liable. 

fudge Robinson, who delivered the opinion, said in con- 
clusion that : " The object of the statute was to protect the 
State against loss from the embezzlement of state funds by 
state officers and it would be strange indeed if the Legisla- 
ture should provide for the punishment of all officers except 
the State Treasurer, who is the most important financial 
officer in the State and by the official misconduct of whom 
the State might suffer greater loss and injur)." 

On the 7th of July, Archer appeared in the Criminal 
Court of Baltimore city. The prisoner, finding that there- 
was no escape and feeling perhaps rather broken in spirit, 
plead guilty to the indictment and was then sentenced by 
Judge Stewart to two months in the Maryland Peniten- 
tiary. His confession he wrote out and asked to have it 
filed with the proceedings of the Court. While- admitting 
that he had proved false to his great trust and made use of 
expressions of self-condemnation quite as severe as any of 
the aspersions which wen- thrown at him by others, yet he 
was careful to state that he had not used the money for 
gambling, stock speculations or political purposes, adding, 
however, that he had " not a dollar left." 

What had been done with the fortune that he had appro- 
priated Archer did not confess and it may be that we shall 
never know. It would be an interestinor matter to discover in 
which one of the ways that men have of lavishing money 
that sum of $135,000.00 went. 



CHAPTER XXII. 




THE MARSHALS OFFICE. 

HE list of promotions in 1885 was as follows : 
Jacob Prey, Marshal, vice J. T. Gray, 
resigned ; John Lannan to be Deputy 
Marshal, vice Frey ; Captain Wm. Delanty 
transferred to the Middle District, vice 
Lannan, promoted ; Lieutenant Thos. Far- 
nan to be Captain, vice Delanty, transferred ; 
Lieutenant D. H. Bruchey transferred to 

the Southern Station, vice Farnan, promoted ; Sergeant F. 

H. Scott to be Lieutenant, vice Fitzgerald, transferred ; 

Policeman Foster to be Sergeant vice Scott, promoted ; 

Samuel W. Brayden appointed on the force, vice Foster. 
Both the papers and the public spoke very kindly of the 

new incumbent of the Marshal's office, and I would argue 

myself a very unnatural kind of a man if I should pretend 

that I did not like it. 

On the 15th of that month I assumed my new duties. 

Perhaps I found them less strange than another might have 

done in my place. 

Three days after I was in possession of my office, election 



THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE. 321 

day arrived, and with it a responsibility which subjected the 
force and its new head to very close scrutiny. One of the 
papers, in an editorial headed " The Marshal's Chance," 
stated the condition of affairs as seen by it and relation of 
the police to the events of the day, very clearly, apart from 
its political onus. I venture to give the editorial here in 
full, as it touches upon several charges which the Indepen- 
dents did not hesitate to make. 

"To-day Marshal Frey will win his spurs or forfeit public confidence. 
An orderly election, a reasonably fair vote, and the observance of strict 
and rigid impartiality by the members of the force, will commend the new 
Marshal to the public in a manner to make him an official fixture. He is 
credited with great executive capacity and witli full control over his men. 
If they do their duty under his guidance and direction, show a disposition 
to observe the sanctity of the ballot-box. to arrest violators of the election 
laws and to capture repeaters, they will merit for themselves the approba- 
tion of all good men, and for their chief the confidence and esteem of all 
the people. We have been threatened with the disgraceful and ruinous 
scenes of 1S75 at this and the approaching elections. So far the police by 
their firmness and promptness have saved us from such a shameful exhibi- 
tion. If they succeed in preserving the peace to the end and otherwise in 
discharging their duties impartially, that will be all that could be reasona- 
bly expected of any police force. 

" Marshal Frey has issued strict and salutary orders to his men and we 
believe he will see them obeyed. If he does, he will commend himself ami 
the force to public confidence in a manner that will be a source of pride 
to him in the future. The Independents at this election want nothing but 
what is fair. They have presented their cause, a conspicuously good one, in 
a most able and convincing manner. They have put up candidates who 
are perfectly acceptable and who enjoy the entire confidence of their 
neighbors. They rely upon the justice of their cause and the excellence 
of their ticket, and they want an election only by the intelligent suffrage of 
the people. " 

I instructed the Captains with all possible care before this 
election, pointing- out to them how far the men were 
regulated in their action by the conduct and attitude of 



322 BALTIMORE. 

their Captains, and expressing the hope that they would do 
everything to promote the general efficiency of the force. 
I also had a little talk with the detectives and advised the 
utmost caution and prudence. I had a good force and I 
recognized the fact, but I will not deny a slight nervousness 
till election was over. 

On the day following, the papers were very complimentary. 
The Morning Herald published the following: 

" The people owe a debt of gratitude to the Police Commissioners, 
Marshal Frey and the other officers of the department for the perfect order 
maintained on Wednesday. The campaign just closed was very bitter on 
both sides, and it is probable that many folks of excitable temperament 
I'll in lighting mood on election daw The firm attitude of the police and 
their promptitude in nipping disturbances in the bud had a very soothing 
effect, however, and those who came to quarrel remained to behave them- 
selves in the most exemplary manner. We are proud of our police force, 
and it never more deserved the faith reposed in it than on Wednesday. 
The organs and orators of the bosses have made a good deal of capital out 
of the report that an Independent triumph would mean radical changes in 
the Police Department. A more absurd story than this could not be con- 
cocted. Every good citizen is satisfied with our present police system, 
and a proposition to change it wouldn't get 1,000 votes in the whole city — 
and these would be cast by persons who have well-founded objections to all 
agents of the law." 

It was a trying and delicate position, and one in which I 
hope we behaved with credit. Before the election I issued 
a general letter of instructions to the police officers in charge 
of voting precincts which was as follows : — 

i. If any breach of the peace occurs while the voting is 
going on, arrest the parties engaged. If you cannot arrest 
all at time, arrest as many as you can, and procure warrants 
for the remainder. 

2. Ascertain, if possible, during the morning of the day 
of the election, the names of the two persons from each 



THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE. 323 

party that will apply for admission to the room where the 
votes are to be counted, when the polls close. 

3. When you have learnt who these persons are, if you 
think any of them are persons liable to create a disturbance 
when the votes are being' counted, take the first opportunity 
of communicating with the Marshal or Deputy-Marshal and 
tell them what you think and they will take steps to remedy 
the difficulty. 

4. When the three judges, two clerks and two designated 
men from each party are in the room, when the votes are to 
be counted, lock the door and see that no other persons 
come in during- the count, and take care : 

First — That the judges and clerks are not interfered with 
in their mode of counting the ballots, and that no breach 
of the peace takes place. 

Second — That the two representatives from each party 
have no words either with the judges and clerks or with 
each other; but confine themselves simply to observing 
what is being clone by the judges, without indulging in any 
threats or comments. If any of the representatives of the 
different parties act in violation of these instructions, place 
him or them under arrest. 

Remember that your duty is to see that peace is pre- 
served and that no violence is done to the ballot-box, but 
not to interfere with the judges of election or to undertake 
to do their duty for them. 

Jacob Frey, Marshal. 

About a year after this, when everything was in good 
running order, I received word that a set of bank thieves 
would visit Baltimore. The news came from Washington, 
where a customer of the Metropolitan Bank had been robbed 
of $71. So I sent word to all the banks, informing them 
that sneaks might be expected to make their appearance, 
and warning them to be on the lookout, at the same time 
describing the thieves as well as possible. The officers of 
the banks were requested to telegraph at once if anything 



324 BALTIMORE. 

of the kind occurred, and before the officer whom I had sent 
had gone the rounds of the various banks, a telephone 
messenger from the Merchants' National Bank at Gay and 
Second Streets informed me that our fox was in view. The 
thief played exactly the same game as at Washington, or at 
least tried to. Mr. George W. Parks was counting some 
money when a well-dressed man informed him that he had 
dropped some bills. As Mr. Parks stooped to pick them 
up, the thief grabbed $268 and started to run with it, but 
the owner was too quick for him and overtook him before 
he reached the door. An officer was in the immediate 
neighborhood and took the culprit into custody. 

Nearly a year after I had assumed the duties of the 
Marshal's office, there occurred one of those opportunities 
which come to us all occasionally of doing a neighborly 
action. The advantage which one has who occupies a 
position at the head of a department is in the fact that he can 
carry out a larger plan than the individual could do. The 
great Charleston, S. C, earthquake, which occurred eight 
years ago, was one of those opportunities. The people of 
Baltimore responded with their accustomed liberality to the 
demand made upon their purses and sympathies by the sad 
condition of the victims of the disaster. The contribution 
was a generous one, or rather an a'>oregation of cfenerous 
gifts. Among those who were first and most efficient in this 
field was Manager Ford, who almost immediately announced 
a benefit performance for the Charleston sufferers, a hand- 
some sum being the result. 

It seemed to us after all had been done that could be, by 
a sale of tickets and distribution of envelopes for the per- 
formance, and other modes of relief already organized, that 
a more direct method of showing our sympathy might be 
devised. I proposed the matter to the Board, who gave a 



THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE. 325 

hearty assent, and then each Captain was directed to briny 
the matter before the men under his command. The 
result of this appeal was a neat sum of seven hundred dollars, 
which I had the pleasure of forwarding to the appreciative 
police force of Charleston. 

As the reader has already discovered, this chapter is <>!' 
rather a personal nature. If any one thinks there is too 
much of the Marshal and the police in it he may skip it. 
In April of 1SS7I completed my twentieth year of continual 
service in the Baltimore police force. May I not be par- 
doned for magnifying my office a little? Speaking of that 
anniversary, I trust that it is not too late to express the 
pleasure which the appreciative notices in the daily press at 
that time afforded me. This is the first chance I have had 
to "talk back," and to say how unfailingly the papers have 
supported and encouraged both the police of Baltimore and 
their Marshal in every effort to fulfill their duties. Every 
compliment which has been paid to the men under un- 
charge has been doubly appreciated by me, for I have done 
what I could to mold the force into even a more effective 
organization than I found it, and I believe that I have cause 
to be proud of it as a whole. It has not gone backward 
since the American, in speaking of it, said that " Baltimo- 
reans, while they are not much given to boasting of their 
police force, are nevertheless very proud of both officers and 
men, and are firmly and rightfully convinced that if they be 
not in truth the finest, they are at least as fine a body of 
men as is similarly employed in any city in the world." 

There are seven districts, each in charge of a Captain. 
These officers are men of clear courage and capacity, who 
not only have the ability to lead their men in any situation 
requiring these qualities, but who also have proved efficient 
aids in keeping up the physical and moral tone of their 



326 BALTIMORE. 

commands. The introduction of gymnasiums for the men, 
where they may practise athletic exercises, has proved of 
very great benefit. Some of them have become clever ath- 
letes, and the good effect of the training is apparent all 
along the line. Then there have been various improvements 
in the methods of outside work — experiments which have 
been tried without fuss, and adopted when found to be useful. 

Not long ago a writer in Harper's Magazine (Julian 
Ralph) spoke appreciatively of a system that Chicago has 
adopted, and which he contrasts with the inferior methods 
still in vogue in other American cities ; this is the use of 
the patrol-wagon. As Mr. Ralph says, it is much less dis- 
tressing and annoying when an officer has been obliged to 
arrest a " drunk and disorderly " to sound a call near by 
and bring up a patrol-wagon and assistants, than it is to 
fight his way to the station-house with his charge. I am 
glad that Chicago has shown so much wisdom. Perhaps 
that city got the idea from Baltimore, where the patrol- 
wagon has been in use in the manner just described for 
several years. 

In another direction the police have accomplished a 
great deal ; that is in the way of organized charity. There 
are not only funds which are intended for the especial ben- 
efit of members of the force and their families, but charity 
is bestowed through the police upon outsiders, who are suf- 
fering from cold or hunger and of whose condition the work 
of an officer often q-ives him a chance to know, and to re- 
lieve such is considered a point of honor. It need not be 
said that the policeman is far from being wealthy. His pay 
is small and what he gives he denies himself to bestow, yet 
not only by contributing his work as a collecter and dis- 
tributer of funds, but by actually putting his hand in his 
own pocket he does much. 



THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE. 327 

Some persons, misunderstanding the work accomplished in 

this direction by the police, have criticised their charity. It 
only goes to show how people who are devoted to a good 
work themselves may entirely misunderstand the motives of 
others. 

The relief afforded through the police has never been in- 
discriminately given. To be sure there is no red tape, no 
investigating committee of ladies or gentlemen, whose 
knowledge of the wiles of the large class of people who live 
upon the credulity of others must be limited. A policeman 
usually knows pretty well who the people in his district or 
beat are. He knows the poor, especially, whether they are 
unfortunate and deserving or professional beggars. He 
can tell without a dozen visits and a book full of questions 
whether a woman is hard working and has a drunken brute 
of a husband, or whether she herself is the offender. It is a 
part of his business to know all this, and as a consequence 
he is the best kind of an almoner. His sympathy is warm, 
spontaneous and unfailing when a real case of want comes 
up, because generally his own life is all that stands between 
his own wife and little ones and similar want. The rich 
may pity the poor, but only the one who has realized the 
possibility of it for himself or his family can sympathize. 
Sometimes it has been objected that well-dressed women 
have been aided by the police fund, but even well-dressed 
persons may occasionally be in absolute need of food. The 
amount of money collected, contributed and distributed by 
the police amounts to six or eight thousand dollars in the 
course of a winter. 

One finds that while one very large class of the commu- 
nity look to the police (or almost everything in the way of 
advice and help, another, equally numerous, regard a police 
office as a place to be dreaded, being inhabited by strange 
beings whose sole duty in life is to terrify people. 



328 BALTIMORE. 

With the first of these classes we have a great deal to do. 
The stories which are told us to " go no further," the ap- 
peals for help and protection, the confidences and complaints, 
show a great deal of the pathetic or the dreadful side of 
human life. But it is for the other folks who are not ac- 
quainted apparently with the real purpose and working of 
the police that I should like to write a few lines that may 
serve to introduce us better. 

When a great fire has destroyed thousands of dollars 
worth of property, and the firemen, after heroic efforts, have 
managed to quell the flames and save a little out of the 
wreck, the papers usually publish columns of praise of the 
wonderful effort ; alluding in glowing terms to " the brave 
fellows who have made such a glorious conflict with the 
destructive element." They propose all sorts of medals, 
and hurrah for the Fire Department until the type refuses 
to express any more praise. Meanwhile the old Chief sits 
at headquarters, cross and unapproachable ; growling at 
every one who comes near him and inquiring who was re- 
sponsible for letting that fire get headway, Then perhaps 
there comes a fire which is not even important enough in 
its result to find its way into the morning press and the 
chief rubs his hands and says, " That was a great success ; 
we checked that before anybody knew about it." It is the 
same way with the Police Department. When arrests have 
to be made and, to use a homely country expression, " The 
fat is all in the fire," it is sure evidence that " some one has 
blundered." The work of the policeman is to preserve the 
peace. A very large class of offenders are boys whose 
thoughtlessness and love of mischief naturally lead them 
into all sorts of scrapes. If any officer commences by an- 
tagonizing the youngsters on his beat, he is sure to have 
his hands full of trouble. His attitude should be a kind 



THE MARSHALS OFFICE. 329 

one and by the use of tact he can easily gain an influence 
which will make his work comparatively easy. The same 
rule applies in dealing with women and children. 

There is, however, a wide distinction between day and 
night work. At night a very different sort of people 
engage the policeman's attention, and it is necessary for 
him to exhibit promptness and resolution in dealing with 
them. There is hardly a criminal in any great city that is 
not known to the police, and often by exceeding the strict 
letter of the law and resorting to what is known as bluff, an 
end may be accomplished which could not be gained in any 
other way. It is often wise in coming in contact with men 
of this class to put the screws on at first. After an arrest 
is made and the offender is in the hands of the law, it is, 
of course, too late to do this. A great deal of the most 
effectual work which we have to do must be done before 
attempting an arrest. Men are so many-sided, that by 
having something of a knowledge of human nature, it is 
generally possible to attain a point without resorting to 
extreme measures. 

The treatment of criminals or disturbers of the peace, 
when they are banded together, is quite a different matter, 
and there is then seldom any opportunity for parley or 
compromise. It will be seen in referring to the story of 
the 'yj riots, how, having commenced on Friday by arrest- 
ing the ringleaders, imagining the affair would stop there, 
we found it necessary by Saturday to jump in and fight. 
The citizens would not have sided with the police had this 
extreme measure been taken at an earlier period, but when 
the next strike, which was that of the street-car lines, 
occurred, the whole thing was known and prepared for 
beforehand at headquarters. Men in blue were at all the 
railroad stables, along the track, and wherever there could 



330 



BALTIMORE. 



possibly be any disturbance, and were ready to use what- 
ever measures were necessary, even the most extreme, as 
soon as they should be called for. The result of this was 
that there was no rioting to speak of. 

We find much good in human nature, although ours is 
hardly a position where we might expect much of it. We 
find also plenty of the evil-doers, and among these the 
hardest people to deal with are those who swindle in small 
ways. The people who advertise that they will help 
struggling young men and women to lucrative positions 
for a certain number of postage stamps enclosed, and other 
birds of the same feather, against whom no proof can be 
found until their game is accomplished and they have 
flown with the proceeds. It is easier to work up the ordi- 
nary case of burglary, where some burglar gets into a 
house through a back window and drops candle grease in 
his progress and pawns the overcoats and other personal 
property which he has stolen, and when caught swears that 
he had an accomplice, when the tracks in the snow show 
only one pair of feet. Such as these are not the trouble- 
some cases. 

The inside working of the office at police headquarters 
is, like any other business, largely a matter of routine. 
The Captains report minutely to the chief concerning the 
things which have happened in their districts during the 
past twenty-four hours, and the chief, in turn, reports to 
the Board of Commissioners. Complaints are listened to, 
difficulties adjusted, and men assigned to special work, and 
there is as little of romance or mystery as there is in the 
work of any other large establishment. But occasionally 
there is something which we look upon as distinctive, and 
in which, perhaps, a little personal pride is taken. Such, 
for instance, are the improvements which we have made in 



THE MARSHALS OFFICE. 331 

the last few years in the use of electric apparatus. All the 
banks and some other institutions in the city of Baltimore 
are connected with police headquarters, so that we ma)' 
know in an instant if anything unusual has happened in 
one of them. 

The idea of connecting the banks with the police head- 
quarters occurred in this way : The office of a leading bank 
wanted to put in a box-call. To this, with the consent of 
the Board, I agreed, and very soon another friend wanted 
a call. I considered ; it would not do ; presently all would 
want calls, and we would have a room full of boxes with no 
way of telling who had rung. So, with the approval of 
the Board of Police, I made estimates and prepared a cir- 
cular letter or proposition to all the banks of Baltimore, 
offering to put up circuit wires and have a receiver or 
ticker placed in in} - office, if each bank would bear the 
expense of its share of the plant, which proposition the 
banks agreed to, and Baltimore has what I believe no other 
city possesses, that is, a police headquarters so connected 
with all the banks in the city. At a certain hour each 
morning the office ticker is examined, the switch is tested. 
and calls are received from every bank to show that they 
are all in working order. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE TRESS OF BALTIMORE. 




FEW words on the press of Baltimore may 
not be out of place here. In beginning the 
subject the American naturally presents it- 
self, by virtue of seniority, for first atten- 
tion. The old Daily Advertiser, started in 
1773, was its direct progenitor, so that the 
American, if papers aged as people do, would be a vener- 
able and feeble periodical instead of the bright contempo- 
rary it is. 

We will not go over the history of its early days when 
the nation was young, and journalism, as we define it to- 
day, almost unknown. It changed hands several times 
before its suspension in 18 14. when all work was stopped, 
so that the employers might enroll among the brave 
defenders of the town. Shortly after its resumption of 
publication the "Star Spangled Banner" was printed in its 
columns for the first time, a week after it was composed. 

With the conduct of the American the bright names of 
Murphy, Bose, S. F. Wilson, Geo. H. Calvert, Davidge 
and others have been associated in those earlier days and 



THE PRESS OF BALTIMORE. 333 

later. Its history has to a certain extent been the history 
of Baltimore. 

One of the early owners was Robert A. Dobbin, whose 
interest in the paper was large. This he retained until his 
death, which occurred during the civil war. His share was 
inherited from his father, he coming into possession when 
only twenty years of age and continuing in the firm for 
thirty-three years. Mr. Dobbin was a man of singular 
character, strong judgment being coupled with most un- 
usual depth of feeling. When the war clouds began to 
gather he was far from being a well man, and it is affirmed 
by those who knew him bust that grief over the divided 
condition of his beloved country was the immediate cause 
of his death. He was one of those who advocated peace, 
and who believed that the irrepressible conflict might have 
been averted. When the news of battle came he was often 
moved to tears. 

Joseph J. Dobbin, the only surviving child of the former, 
succeeded to his interest in the paper, which had then been 
in that family for three generations. 

In 1S64 the Dobbin interest was purchased by C. C. 
Fulton, and the style of the publishing firm was changed to 
Charles C. Fulton & Son. 

Mr. Fulton knew the newspaper business thoroughly, 
having been Associated Press manager in Baltimore, be- 
sides filling other responsible positions. He was conver- 
sant with all the methods of news-getting which were cur- 
rent at that day. Previous to the change of ownership, the 
American had always been a commercial paper. Mr. Ful- 
ton turned it over, put in a new editorial force, reorganized 
every department, and with new blood, fresh methods and 
a greater outlay of money, succeeded in making a potent 
newspaper of it. 



334 



BALTIMORE. 



While only editorially in charge of the American before 
purchasing it, Mr. Fulton had dune something in this direc- 
tion, making it quite a strong Federal organ and gaining a 
larger circulation in General McClellan's army than any 
other journal had. For awhile the editor was with the 
Army of the Peninsula, and upon his return to Baltimore 
was arrested and put in Fort McHenry for the republication, 
in an Associated Press dispatch, of the plans of campaign, 
confidentially communicated to him by the President. 

When it was shown that the dispatch was of a private 
nature and not intended to be printed, having been pub- 
lished by mistake, Mr. Lincoln ordered his release at once. 

Mr. Fulton's travels, both in Europe and on this con- 
tinent, resulted in charming books of travels, and he has 
been widely read as an instructive and entertaining writer. 
General Agnus has succeeded him in the paper. 

General Felix Agnus has had a wide and varied experi- 
ence in the armies of Europe and the civil and commercial 
life of the New World. A Frenchman by birth, beginning 
life in the romantic city of Lyons and receiving" his educa- 
tion in Paris, he soon became a traveller whose restless feet 
carried him into every clime under the sun. He received 
his brevet as Brigadier-General at Savannah, Ga., during 
the civil war in this country, after brilliant service in the 
Federal army. 

When at the death of Mr. Fulton, his father-in-law, Gen- 
eral Agnus, became the publisher and general manager of 
the American, he brought to the conduct of that paper the 
energy and courage which had always distinguished him. 
To the influence which the American already possessed he 
added the force of his enthusiasm and purpose. Satisfied 
with the position he now holds he has steadfastly refused 
civil honors offered to him and devotes the remainder of his 



THE PRESS OF BALTIMORE. 335 

prime to the journal which has owed so much of its strength 
to his ability. 

The present quarters of the American are in an iron 
building on the corner of Baltimore and South Streets, to 
which it was moved in 1S76. Its handsome six-story iron 
building, of quite elaborate ornamentation, built by Mr. 
Fulton, has long been a noticeable feature of that portion 
of Baltimore Street. 

Just after the war General Felix Agnus took hold of the 
business management of the American and Mr. Hazelton 
was made editorial chief. Some of the brightest young 
journalists of the city have been on its staff and have 
helped to make it what it is. 

The American was the first of the Baltimore dailies to pub- 
lish a Sunday edition, a fashion in which the others soon fol- 
lowed in self-defence. So much has been said /re and con on 
the subject of Sunday papers that the expression of another 
opinion on that subject may appear gratuitous. The fact 
is that the Sunday newspaper, on the ground often ad- 
vanced, that it causes work on the Sabbath, is much more 
defensible than that of Monday. But the real difficulty, it 
seems to me, is in the fact that we get rather too much 
newspaper in seven days, and a clay of rest from them as 
well as from other things is advisable. 

However, I am not inclined to preach and recognize fullv 
that the Sunday newspaper has come to remain, since it is 
a very potent factor on our city life to-day. 

The first number of the Baltimore Sun was issued on 
the 17th of May, 1 S 3 7 , so that I think I may fairly claim 
it as a contemporary. In that year Mr. A. S. Abell, who 
was one of the proprietors of the Philadelphia Ledger, 
undertook the establishment of what his judgment told him 
would be a paying property. The other owners of the 



336 BALTIMORE. 

Ledger were interested in the enterprise, but to Mr. Abell 
belonged not only the plan, but its accomplishment, as the 
new journal was under his sole management from the start. 

The Sun was, according to its prospectus, to be the organ 
of neither party, noj of any religious sect. It aimed at a 
candid, free and impartial course; one which would give it 
influence and power of the best description. " We shall 
o-ive no place," its editor said, "to religious controversy nor 
to political discussions of a purely partisan character. On 
political principles and questions involving the honor and 
interest of the whole country, we shall be firm and tem- 
perate. Our object will be the public good, without regard 
to sections, factions or parties, and for this object we shall 
labor without fear or partiality." 

Mr. Abell soon made his personality felt. In the disposi- 
tion of the paper and its editorial character it showed the 
effect of a policy not unlike that which the New York 
Herald afterwards adopted, when a subordinate writer was 
said to have been discharged because he showed too much 
individuality in his work. Not that the Sun ever carried 
things to such excess as that, but it was understood that the 
personality of the paper, the well-considered plan by which it 
was governed and directed, was paramount, and nothing 
that was contrary to that plan or outside of it would have a 
place. In other words, a general was in command, ordering 
each move, marking every line of action with a precision 
and force that showed his strong grasp of the problem before 
him and his ability to meet it. 

This idea has, to a certain extent, modified somewhat by 
new conditions, been kept up till to-day and the early 
pledges given to the public have been faithfully adhered to. 
The only radical differences in the character of the paper 
have been those necessitated by the conditions of growth. 



THE PRESS OF BALTIMORE. 337 

It has evidently tried to be, as some one has said, the public 
voice, not so much attempting to guide sentiment into new- 
paths as to crystallize the best of that already existing ; to 
take the most worth)' and most practical views of life and 
action already existing and by iteration and reiteration 
inducing the people to be true to their own highest standards. 

There is much wisdom in such a plan, for after all that 
has been said about moulding public sentiment, that man 
was right who said that " the people of this country have 
lots of good sense, enough to carry them through anything, 
but sometimes they need some one to show them where 
they have put it." 

Probity and independence soon told, and the new paper 
became an almost instant success. Starting at a time when 

o 

everything was depressed and the business men complain- 
ing of dull times, it ran its circulation in six months from 
nothing to eight thousand live hundred copies. 

One of Mr. Abell's earliest triumphs was achieved in 1838 
when the President's message was published by the Sun, 
two days in advance of its rivals. The usual method then 
in vogue was to receive from Washington supplements 
already printed, which contained the message and which 
usually made their appearance several days after the event. 
That sort of thing would not suit the Sun, which established 
an express consisting of fleet Canadian ponies, hardy and 
well trained, which made the distance in a shorter time than 
could otherwise be done at that day. That is how the 
Presidential message got into the hands of the Sun composi- 
tors before any other paper outside of Washington obtained 
it, and was immediately cut up into what the printers call 
" takes," upon which a large force of busy compositors was 
soon hard at work. 

This plan was carried into execution whenever practicable 



33S ' BALTIMORE. 

and was wonderfully successful, so that the name of the 
Baltimore Sun became synonymous with enterprise and 
achievement. 

A Halifax and Baltimore express, with relays of horses 
along the road to Annapolis, on the Bay of Fundy, and 
thence by steamer to New York, enabled the Sun to obtain 
European news in advance of all of its competitors. When- 
ever possible it associated with other papers, but never 
hesitated when such a combination was impossible to 
assume all the expense and risk of new enterprises. As a 
consequence, the compliments paid it by its contemporaries 
were warm and frequent, and it took rank with the first 
papers of the country. 

During the Mexican war thirty blooded horses were put 
on the New Orleans express, and these beat the Southern 
mail over thirty hours. It is a great pity that some one has 
not given us the exciting episodes of that rough riding in 
a graphic narrative. It would, I do not doubt, be rare 
reading, for the country over which the swift relays trav- 
elled by day and night was not all cultivated and settled by 
any means. There were long stretches of forest, of deso- 
late places, of dangerous neighborhoods, of savage wilder- 
ness, as well as of farm land and travelled road. Many a race 
there must have been when the express had other enemies 
than distance to contend with ; many a night when the 
dreary loneliness of the uninhabited woods was broken by 
the panther's cry or the dreary call of the night-birds. 
Through the hot sun, the damp shades, r the sudden storm 
or the almost intolerable loneliness, the Sun's horses and 
horsemen sped. 

The cost of the New Orleans express was a thousand 
dollars a month. The time made by it from that city to 
this was accomplished in six days. 



THE PRESS OF BALTIMORE. 339 

So it happened that the first announcement either to 
people or to the government ot the conclusion of the 
Mexican war appeared in the columns of the Sun, and the 
action of the government was guided by this information. 

To private individuals, banking and business houses and 
the government, by information about foreign matters, 
stocks, the market, the Sun was useful. 

Besides the pony express, as it got to be called, carrier- 
pigeons were introduced and in a short time became exceed- 
ingly useful. For this purpose nearly five hundred of these 
beautiful and interesting birds were kept at a house near 
the old Maryland hospital for the insane. Late news from 
Washington was brought in this way and all competitors 
were distanced. 

I have elsewhere spoken of the fact that the Morse electric 
telegraph was first used by the Sicn. The experimental line 
from Washington to Baltimore was built on an appropria- 
tion from Congress of thirty thousand dollars, and the fact 
that the appropriation was granted was largely due to the 
influence and persistent energy of Mr. Abell and his paper. 

The Sun's telegraphic copy of the first Presidential 
message ever transmitted in that way was afterwards repub- 
lished in the Proceedings of the FrcncJi Academy of Science, 
as one of the verv remarkable achievements of the age. 
This was done in May ot 1 S46. 

At one time a combination was effected with the New 
York Herald, by which these two energetic journals joined 
forces in gathering news from distant points. 

The 6'////'_\' first publication office was in Light Street. In 
1839 it was removed to Gay and Baltimore Streets, and 
eleven years later the iron building on the corner of Balti- 
more and South Streets, the first of its kind ever used for a 
newspaper building, was erected. Upon the death of one 



3 4o BALTIMORE. 

of the partners, the building was sold to settle the estate, 
and Mr. Abell bought it. 

The attitude of this journal during the civil war and the 
reconstruction period which followed was in line with its 
previous policy. It often gave the government offence by 
its courageous utterances. There was at one time an order 
for its suppression ; not an unusual thing at a day when 
few papers escaped such attention, and it was no mark of 
distinction for an editor to spend days, weeks, or even 
months in " durance vile." Fortunately for Mr. Abell he 
learned of the order in time to avert it by procuring a strong 
protest from an influential quarter. 

About this time Mr. Fulton of the American, Messrs. 
Piet and Kelly of the Catholic News, Mr. William M. Car- 
penter of the News Sheet, and afterwards one of the editors 
of the Sun and several other gentlemen were incarcerated in 
Fort McHenry. The Daily Exchange, South, News Sheet, 
Daily Gazette, Republican, Evening Transcript, Evening 
Post and Evening Loyalist were suppressed at various times. 
It was a day when the expression of opinion meant danger 
and exposure to punishment. 

Very recently the double page and supplement with 
which the readers of the Sun had become familiar have given 
place to eight large pages. The Hoe presses which this 
paper was the first to purchase have been superseded by 
quadruple web-perfecting presses, printing from four cyl- 
inders at once upon an endless roll of paper, with a capacity 
of ninety-six thousand copies an hour. 

The ownership of the Sun passed some time ago from 
the hands of its late founder into those of his heirs, who are 
true to the traditions of the journal. Its character is well 
established and it occupies an honorable position among the 
leading newspapers of the land. 



THE PRESS OF BALTIMORE. 341 

The Baltimore Daily Commercial, which was published 
first in 1866, was the direct descendant of the Baltimore 
Clipper, which was a contemporary of the Sun, being only 
two years younger. 

Both the Clipper and the Daily Commercial were under 
the ownership and management of Mr. Wailes, who, at one 
time, had as partners Win. R. Coale, Dr. C. C. Cox and 
R. N. Newport. 

After the retirement of the last of these gentlemen from 
his connection with the journal, the stock and good-will 
were purchased by the Democratic Association, which was 
represented by Dr. Win. Cole and Col. Gerger, of Mis- 
sissippi. These gentlemen started the Evening Journal in 
1 871. First, Dr. Cole withdrew from its management, and 
then Col. Gerger sold out at auction, Col. Frederick Rain 
becoming the purchaser for the sum of $2,250. 

During its various metamorphoses the Commercial be- 
came the Bulletin, and later the Baltimore Bulletin. At 
this time Mr. Win. R. Coale, who had been associated 
some years before with Messrs. Wailes and Laffan of the 
old Commercial, became its editor. 

In 1872 Mr. Coale retired, and Samuel Early bought his 
interest conjointly with Mr. Laffan. Four years later 
Messrs. S. Teackle Wallis, Thos. W. Hall, Charles G. Kerr, 
Win. Laffan and Lawrence Turnbull organized a company 
and purchased the paper, starting with a capital of sixty 
thousand dollars. 

Under the direction of this company the Bulletin was 
published as an evening paper. It was very successful, 
and held its own among the Democratic journals, being 
well edited and managed. In 1880 the J 7 .veuiu<:' News 
absorbed it. This paper remains with us still. 

A story full of interest is that of the little Exchange, 



342 BALTIMORE. 

which began to appear in 1858, when the Know-nothing 
party, through its rougher element, was terrorizing the 
community, and, to a certain extent, intimidating the press ; 
for while there were several papers which showed a proper 
amount of backbone, there were many which made submis- 
sion to the tyrant, and let mob-rule proceed unrebuked, be- 
cause they considered the shoemakers' awl a mightier 
weapon than the pen. The " Blood Tubs," " Plug Uglies," 
and all the rest of that ominous crew, gave the law to 
the editorial sanctums of many of the papers. 

After the manner of the youthful champion of the old 
tales, who suddenly appears in the lists at the tournament, 
and challenges the giant, so the Exchange sprang; into be- 
ing, and defied the mob at once. One of its ablest writers 
was Mr. S. Teackle Wallis, whose versatile pen was never 
better employed than then. 

Mr. Wallis has been called, and justly, the pride and 
ornament of the Baltimore bar. He was born in 1S16, and 
studied law with the famous William Wirt, whose letters 
give us so much of an insight into the life of an earlier 
time. As a leader of the people, Mr. Wallis early learned 
to devote time, thought, tongue and pen to their service, 
and never hesitated in his more active days to fight every 
dragon as a public champion. His trenchant pen began to 
draw blood from the Know-nothings. They were wild 
with anger, and threatened the paper that was doing them 
so much damage, but the courageous editors replied to 
every threat with hot shot from the presses, till the whole 
community became interested in the unequal dual. 

At length, on the 12th of August, 1858, the mob began to 
gather to put its threats into execution. Not a word of 
those scathing editorials but was to be paid for in the coin 
that the Know-nothings were most used to handling. 



THE PRESS OF BALTIMORE. 343 

With the manager sitting helpless while a burly ruffian 
held a pistol to his head, the mob quickly distributed itself 
over the premises, and destroyed everything they could lay 
hands on. 

The office was at the Carroll Building, on the southeast 
corner of Baltimore and Calvert Streets. The attack took 
place on February 22, 1858. Messrs. Kerr and Hall, the 
proprietors, did not weaken at this demonstration. On the 
contrary, their heaviest guns were loaded with wit and 
common-sense, and discharged in the usual way. 

The attack had been made at eleven o'clock in the morn- 
ing. The fearless conduct of the paper had won all chival- 
rous hearts, and a large number of citizens voluntarily 
surrounded the office and guarded it for several days, while 
the paper showed the stuff its editors were made of. 

The fight with this faction continued until the enemy 
was no more, and then the burning questions of the hour 
in national politics claimed its attention. It spoke as fear- 
lessly as before, and, as a result, when suppression and 
arrests were the order of the day, its responsible men were 
taken to Forts McHenry and Lafayette, and its utterances 
forever silenced. 

The Maryland Tunes appeared in place of the Exchange 
five days later. This paper was so clearly the successor of 
the Exchange that people said there had been no change 
except one of name. Indeed, the same style, type, cases, 
and even the same advertisements, gave color to this view. 

Next came the News Sheet, which was mainly a copyist 
of other journals, culling what was brightest from its con- 
tempories. 

The fact that its sharp sayings were quoted did not save 
it from the general fate, however. Its quotation marks 
were a feeble and inadequate defence against the order from 



344 BALTIMORE. 

Washington which soon came to suppress it. This was 
done effectually by destroying the type, and making 
general havoc with the property. 

But although the succession was thus apparently inter- 
fered with, yet the Daily Gazette came directly in the wake 
of the News Sheet and followed its methods, managing to 
incur the hatred of the authorities almost from the start. 
It made no difference that the articles which were consid- 
ered as being most obnoxious had previously appeared with- 
out question in journals in the North and West, or that 
some of them were even the product, originally, of Repub- 
lican pens, there was a separate standard established, a 
stricter censorship for Baltimore. 

Mr. George Colton became the proprietor of the Gazette 
in 1 88 1. Mr. Welsh, the former editor, was retained, as 
were most of the staff of the paper. 

The Republican was also the property of Mr. Colton 
during the civil war, and was a recognized organ of the 
Democratic party in Maryland. 

The last addition to the press of Baltimore is the World, 
which has gained a good many friends already and only 
lacks perspective. 

The Baltimore Evening News, which is published by the 
Evening News Publishing Company, has been under its 
present management since January ist, 1892, and has 
doubled its circulation in that time, it is said. It is a 
brio-ht, energetic paper, and seems to feel the influence of 
Mr. Charles H. Grasty, the president of the company, 
whose personal energy has been exhibited in a number of 
enterprises, both here and in the West. His first experience 
in journalism is said to have been gained in Missouri, and 
from his early work on a country paper he drifted to Kan- 
sas City, where he became a reporter on the Times of that 



THE PRESS OF BALTIMORE. 345 

city. His first work in journalism in Baltimore was as the 
general manager of the Manufacturers Record. While 
engaged in this work Mr. Grasty became interested and 
interested others in the Lake Roland Land Improvement 
Plan and was prominent in the organization of the Lake 
Roland Land Company, which has also purchased the North 
Avenue Railroad. 

In December, 1891, Mr. Grasty severed his connection 
with the Manufacturers Record and assumed control of the 
Evening News. In its new quarters in Carroll Hall, on 
Calvert and Baltimore Streets, with its now perfect equip- 
ment and management, the News seems to have a great 
future. 

The Morning Herald was founded in 1875 by Wm. f. 
Hooper, a prominent and wealthy citizen of this city. Its 
early career was not as successful as was anticipated finan- 
cially. Mr. Hooper sold the paper in 1876 to its present 
owners, who changed its politics from Republican to a more 
independent and conservative course. From this time 
dates the success of the paper, which is shown by its circu- 
lation both of the daily and Sunday editions. The business 
is conducted in the large iron building on the southeast cor- 
ner of Charles and Baltimore Streets, and is overseen by 
Mr. Charles Bechhofer, the general manager, to whose 
ability and energy the success of the paper is largely due. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



THE STAGE IN BALTIMORE. 




N the old days of Baltimore we read that 
travelling shows used to exhibit in a large 
hall over the market house, the North- 
west corner of Gay and Baltimore Streets. 
These performances were varied by 
lectures and other intellectual amuse- 
ments. No doubt the electricians of to- 
day would give something for a report of a lecture on Elec- 
tricity delivered in " Baltimore Town," as the advertisement 
read, at the time when Ben Franklin was still flying his 
immortal kite. 

There was nothing to suggest even a claim to any great 
interest in dramatic affairs until the present century. There 
were spasmodic efforts made in that direction, as when 
Hallam and Henry appeared in the Beggar's Opera, or 
Wignell and Reinagle opened the first "Old Holliday" 
with some sentimental performances such as were in vogue 
at the time. 

A little later the walls of the " New Holliday " (Baltimore 
Theatre) resounded to plaudits given to Hardinge for his 



THE STAGE IN BALTIMORE. 347 

singing of the "Star-Spangled Banner." At the same 
theatre James Wallack made his first appearance in America 
under the management of Warren and Wood. The elder 
Wallack is only a name to most of the living, and even his 
gifted son has "gone over to the majority," yet the tra- 
dition of his power is a very lively one to-day and his 
unquestioned genius has been the inspiration of a later gen- 
eration. 

Keane, too, won the plaudits of those who appreciated 
dramatic art, and Mrs. Entwistle delighted the Baltimoreans 
whose grandchildren have enjoyed Mary Anderson — 
Morris — Davenport — or the bright particular stars of our 
own dramatic firmament. 

The second decade of the century, if we may credit the 
record, found a much livelier population in regard to theat- 
rical amusements, or else the people had been educated up 
to enjoyment of the play-house. The long ]j s t of names 
that greet the eyes in looking over any history of the stage 
makes one wish that he might linger and discuss them. 

When I first began to notice such things, or at least to 
remember them and understand a little about what was 
going on, the old Holliday theatre was closed and remained 
so for several years : then it was purchased, proved a white 
elephant to the possessor and was resold, finally coming 
into the hands of a company of whom Mr. John T. Ford 
was a member. The latter performed the seldom success- 
ful plan of putting the theatre on its feet. After proving 
his ability as a manager for several years, the theatre was 
remodeled for him in 1859, and reopened with " She Stoops 
to Conquer," Goldsmith's comedy, in which Stuart Robson 
took the inimitable character of the raw, uncouth, unedu- 
cated, roystering young squire, Tone) - Lumpkin. 

In 1S70 Mr. Ford purchased the Holliday, which there 



348 BALTIMORE. 

years later was burned, the performance of " After Dark " 
having just been concluded. The owner, nothing daunted 
by this calamity, rebuilt the Holliday. The present Ford's 
Grand Opera House, which was completed in 1S71 under 
the superintendence of Mr. Gifford, the architect, is a large 
and finely constructed building, well adapted for its pur- 
pose. " As You Like It" was advertised for the opening 
night, and as people were on tiptoe with expectation, there 
was a large audience present ; but the theatre, in spite of 
the most strenuous efforts on the part of the owner and 
architect, was not quite ready. The auditorium was com- 
pleted but the stage was not, and the Shakesperian play 
was postponed, an impromptu performance, gratuitously 
performed, taking its place. The time was filled with reci- 
tations and other forms of entertainment not requiring 
elaborate stage setting. The comedy was given the suc- 
ceeding night and was the forerunner of a series of dra- 
matic events that have made "Ford's" memorable for 
more than twenty years. 

The career of Mr. John T. Ford has been one which 
cannot fail to interest whoever is posted in matters relating 
to the staee. He is the oldest living manager in America, 
and has been brought into contact with more prominent 
professional people than any other ; that fact alone would 
afford sufficient apology, were any needed, for giving a little 
sketch of his life. 

Mr. Ford's father was a mechanic ; he was born in Balti- 
more in 1829. He had an uncle who was engaged in 
tobacco-manufacturing whose establishment he entered when 
fourteen years of age. But at the age of twenty the future 
manager concluded that something else than tobacco would 
suit him better, and he became the agent for an opera com- 
pany, and afterwards formed the partnership with George 



THE STAGE IN BALTIMORE. 



349 



Kunkel and Thomas Moxley which resulted in their becom- 
ing- lessees of the Holliday. At the same time the theatre 
at Richmond, Va., was leased by them. This partnership 
was dissolved in 1S61. 

Mr. Ford has built three theatres in Washington, the 
first being completed in 1856 and that on Tenth Street 
becoming famous as the scene of President Lincoln's assas- 
sination. Upon the conclusion of that dreadful tragedy the 
place was seized by order of the government, and a resolu- 
tion passed forever prohibiting the use of it as a place of 
public amusement. 

The Broad Street theatre in Philadelphia also came under 
Mr. Ford's control in 1S7S and was eminently successful. 
Mr. Charles E. Ford, his son, who was trained to succeed 
his father in the business of theatrical management, took 
charge of the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York, which 
his father had leased, and there among other things brought 
out the " Pirates of Penzance," which had not before been 
seen in this country. 

" Pinafore," too, had been first taken in hand by the veteran 
manager (Montgomery Field being the only one to precede 
him), and Mr. Ford was the first to offer remuneration to 
the English authors for their work. 

But not only in the arduous work of a caterer to the 
public taste has Mr. Ford exhibited that rare balance and 
ability which he possesses to so marked a degree. In civic 
life he has shown himself a good citizen, as in private life 
he has been a sterling friend. In his seat in both branches 
of the City Council he has evinced a capacity for public 
business which leads one to question whether the city 
would not have been a great gainer had he devoted more of 
his life to political pursuits. 

He is on record as having advocated the introduction of 



35o BALTIMORE. 

water from the Gunpowder river (which measure was not 
then carried), and has thrown the weight of his influence 
and vote in favor of such progressive measures as city 
extension, sewerage, paving, the electric lighting system, and 
in fact all the later improvements proposed for the city. 

Mr. Ford has also frequently served as foreman of the 
Grand Jury, has been city director of the Baltimore & 
Ohio Railroad, a Commissioner of the McDonough Fund 
and member of various societies for the aid and comfort of 
his fellow-men. 

Such a man is John Thomson Ford, to whose genial 
friendship I have owed many a pleasant hour of my life. 

Mr. Ford had the theatre in Richmond, Va., in 1S57, and 
Joseph Jefferson, whose name has for so many years been 
a household word in this country, became its stage manager. 
Dion Boucicault, with his accomplished and popular wife, 
" M iss " Agnes Robertson, were among the attractions of the 
first season there. Miss Robertson was known as "The 
Fairy Star" and drew large houses. Among the pieces 
produced were " The Sea of Ice," and "The Naiad Queen," 
which were both successful. Later Edwin Forrest, then a 
man in the prime of life and power, electrified his audiences 
with his Shakespearean personations, and of "Virginius" 
and other Roman characters. 

A feud between the friends or adherents of Macready and 
Forrest broke out as soon as the former crossed the water. 
New York was the scene of a popular disturbance in which 
the patrons of the opposing theatres took part and engaged 
in a warfare still fondly remembered by the older inhabi- 
tants. 

In Baltimore, in 1S48, a similar scene was enacted. 
Forrest was playing the part of Macbeth to a crowded house 
at the Holliday Theatre. At the Front Street, Macready at 



THE STAGE IN BALTIMORE. 351 

the same time personated the same character. The parti- 
sans were up in arms about it. The play-goers of the 
Monumental City had not had anything so exciting to talk 
about for many a day and discussion grew hot as the time 
for the performance approached. Baltimore was not so 
large a city then as it has since become, and we were per- 
haps more easily excited over matters that now we would 
take more quietly. At any rate there was hardly a small 
boy in the city that did not have an opinion and aside, and, 
as in many a political division, those who knew least were 
loudest and strongest in their expressions. As for going 
to see both actors and comparing them, that was hardly 
thought of by the majority, who would have considered it 
treason to either favorite to be seen among the adherents 
of his rival. 

Well, Forrest was as popular then as he could possibly 
be, and his audience yelled and stamped their applause like 
good partisans, and Macready made his best hits and was 
likewise endorsed by his side, and then each part)-, fully 
convinced that the other could not possibly have enjoyed 
anything half so fine, sought opportunity to prove by the 
readiest of arguments its utter detestation of anything like 
poor taste. It was a funny sort of a conflict, showing as it 
did, how even in matters of artistic appreciation, as in ques- 
tions of religion and politics, most men are ready to take 
up the cudgels. 

Mr. Joseph Jefferson won many a triumph in Baltimore, 
and for almost two generations of theatre-goers he has 
stood as the preservation of what is best and kindest, most 
cultured and brightest on the American stage. Jefferson 
belongs to a coterie that have passed away with but few 
exceptions. Forrest has long since been only a memory. 
The elder Booth, the great father of a great son, has been 



y>2 BALTIMORE. 

forofiven for all his eccentricities, because of his abounding 
genius. James W. Wallack gave place to his son, Lester 
Wallack, and he in turn went over to the great majority 
from the ranks of the veterans. 

Kean, Ellsler, Charles Matthews, Fechter, Montgomery, 
and a score of others are gone. Still Jefferson is present, 
and what has he not done in forty years? Stage manager 
he has been, but fortunately was not deeply bitten with that 
malady, which to the majority of men is fatal. He has 
dipped, once or twice, into matters outside of his profession, 
I believe, as when he attempted a Floridian orange grove, 
but usually his genius has had its legitimate exercise in 
creating the parts which have made him famous. 

In "The Rivals," which has perhaps been more favorably 
known to the Baltimore public through his personation than 
any other of his plays, he showed the keen insight of a 
master in cutting and pruning Sheridan's production to tit 
the stage exigencies of to-day. His process of selection 
was based on an intimate knowledge of what the people 
demanded or would stand. He realized that the day for 
long dialogue and poetic speeches was past ; so in spite of 
the strong remonstrance of the veteran John Gilbert, and 
the no less biting sarcasm of William Warren, who remarked 
after the first performance, that it reminded him of "Sheri- 
dan, twenty miles away," " The Rivals " was produced in 
an abridged and more popular form. Its success I need 
not speak of. The same genius for selection was displayed 
in the recasting of Washington Irving's " Rip Van Winkle," 
who is better known to most people through the color which 
the comedian has cast around him. 

In 1853 Jefferson became stage manager for Mr. Henry 
C. Jarrett at the Baltimore Museum. Here Henry Placide, 
James W. Wallack, Murdoch, Davenport, Adams, Miss 



THE STAGE IX BALTIMORE. 353 

Kate Horn, Mrs. Jane Germon, Miss Lizzie Weston and 
others made a remarkable list of attractive players. In 
those days stars were not so plentiful and the modern 
methods of providing a theatre with attractions almost un- 
practised, so that the stock company was in its palmy days. 
Those who began their theatre-going too late to see " The 
School for Scandal" cast, as was gievn at the Holliday 
Street Theatre, to, such a company as the one I have just 
referred to, have at least one cause for regret. Mr. farrett 
produced it there under an arrangement with Mr. Ford. 

Henry Placide was for years one of the most enjoyable 
old men on the stage, a thorough artist whose personation 
of Sir Peter Teazle was a thing to be remembered. James 
E. Murdoch, too, as Charles Surface, in the same play, was 
an excellent and original actor who, to quote an authority 
already referred to, displayed a "manliness about his light 
corned)-, which gave it more dignity than the flippant style 
in which it was usually played." 

The lessee of the Baltimore Museum at that time, Mr. 
Jarrett, was noted for a peculiar habit in business which 
gained for him the soubriquet of " The railroad manager." 
He used to play the same company, or part of the company, 
in Baltimore and Washington on the same evenings, and 
accomplished this feat by running extra trains — specials — 
at high speed, from one city to the other, so that the same 
comedy and cast which opened a performance at the capital 
could close the one at Baltimore. The actors used to dread 
these flying trips, which one would certainly think warranted 
to insure poor performances at the latter end of the route. 

Jefferson and John Sleeper Clarke leased the old Olym- 
pic Theatre, in 1S54, for a brief while. Previous to their 
becoming lessees, John E. Owens had been manager there. 
Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams ran the theatre in 1853, 



354 BALTIMORE. 

and they succeeded the Kemble Company, whose fore-run- 
ner was Wm. Arnold. Arnold had rebuilt the Howard 
Athenaeum and called it Arnold's Olympic. 

Among the memorable performances at that old house 
was one on Christmas eve, 1853, when Laura Keene played 
to an enthusiastic audience. 

Originally the Athenaeum had been used for other pur- 
poses. John K. Randall leased the upper tloors of the 
building in 1S47, and made a theatre of it. It stood on 
the corner of Baltimore and Charles Streets, with an en- 
trance on Charles Street. 

In the year following Joseph Jefferson's management of 
the Olympic, Mr. McClellan altered the building into ware- 
rooms. 

I have already spoken of Jenny Lind's appearance in 
Baltimore in 1850, under the direction of that prince ot 
managers, the late P. T. Barnum. It was on a Saturday 
afternoon that the great songstress, long looked for, arrived 
at the President Street depot on a train from Philadelphia. 
A multitude of citizens had assembled to receive her, and 
both at the depot and at Barnum's Hotel, where she was 
taken, the throng pressed forward to get a glimpse of her. 
All was excitement and animation. The crowd cheered 
the "nightingale" lustily when she appeared, and she 
graciously showed her appreciation of their enthusiastic 
greeting by repeated bows and smiles. While there was a 
vigorous struggle to approach the great woman, there was 
no ill feeling or any disposition to be disagreeable. It was 
rather a friendly rivalry <>n the part of the concourse to 
pay their respects to one who already wore the crown of 
the world's approbation. 

Messrs. Benedict and Belletti, members of her com- 
pany, accompanied the great singer. When the hotel was 



THE STACK IX BALTIMORE. 355 

reached, the crowd did not even then disperse till the 
object of its enthusiasm had appeared at a drawing-room 
window and showed again her appreciation of their good 
feeling. On Saturday evening, Gray's band serenaded the 
songstress. 

The scene around the Front Street Theatre, as well as 
within its walls, was exciting and memorable, expectation 
being intense till Miss Lind appeared, and then the enthu- 
siasm rising like a wave to break in plaudits when the last 
tones of her marvellous voice died away. 

From six o'clock in the evening, when the doors were 
first opened, the eager crowd poured in — all of Baltimore's 
wealth, fashion, taste and intellect seemed to be present. 
For two hours they came in an unbroken stream. 

After a preliminary performance by Signor Belletti, 
fenny Lind entered, amid deafening applause, and ad- 
vanced quickly down the stage. There was on her part a 
slight expression, either in face or gesture, of timidity ; a 
token of sensibility that still further delighted her audience. 

I have already told something about the concert given to 
the school children. An account published at the time may 
be of interest as preserving a record of the details of what 
was really a memorable event in Baltimore annals : 

"Jenny Lind, on Saturday morning, held her festival with the children 
of the public schools, and a most delightful time they had together, the 

gifted songstress being the cause of infinite enjoyment to the thousands 
who constituted her youthful auditor)' ; she, herself, entered most heartily 
into the pleasure which she was so generously bestowing upon others. By 
nine o'clock the schools began to arrive, and in a short time the immense 
building was crowded in every part by the pupils of the female schools, the 
boys being unable to obtain entrance and being compelled to remain in the 
streets. Probably there were not less than three thousand scholars, with 
their teachers, crowded into the building; and, en passant, we may say that 
a surprisingly great number of teachers appeared with the schools. 



356 BALTIMORE. 

" At a quarter past ten the orchestra played an overture, Aria Figaro, 
followed by Signor Belletti. Jenny Lind then sung an air from " La 
Somnambula " and the flute trio. Her young audience listened very atten- 
tively, but evinced more curiosity to see, than gratification in hearing, the 
gifted singer. 

" It was then announced that the girls would leave the theatre in order 
to afford the boys outside an opportunity to hear Miss Jenny Lind sing. 
This, after some delay and confusion, was effected. With the advent of 
the boys and their delight and enthusiasm, the scene became greatly 
changed. Miss Lind evidently participating in the feeling which appeared 
10 animate her auditory, gave herself up to the occasion and appeared to 
enter into the enjoyment of it with her whole heart. 

" Belletti sang a fine buffo air in his usually felicitous style. Jenny Lind 
then came forward and sang with the most touching expression and deep 
feeling the solo from Handel's 'Messiah' 'I Know that my Redeemer 
Liveth.' She sang the song with marvellous power and effect, and the boys 
remained quiet and almost awe-struck as the rich melody rolled forth from 
her faultless voice; but the moment she had finished they were again wild 
with delight and Acclaim. 

"After a selection by the orchestra Miss Lind requested the children to 
sing, which they did under the direction of Mr. E. Root. The first piece 
was a pretty little air which Miss Lind listened to very attentively, smiling 
and beating time as it proceeded, and heartily applauding at its close. The 
children then sang " Hail Columbia." At its close Jenny herself called out : 
"Sing it again." This the children did with a will, having by this time per- 
ceived that Jenny Lind was much pleased at the sound of their young 
voices. 

"The ' Good-by song' was then sung by the schools and three rousing 
cheers for Jenny Lind were given three times over. The theatre at this 
time presented a scene, for the genuine happy feeling which pervaded it 
has rarely been equalled, and will be long remembered by the youngest 
child present. The body of the house was densely filled by the children 
with bright animated countenances, eager with enjoyment, presenting a 
scene calculated to stir the best feelings of the heart." 

On the stage stood Jenny Lind, closely surrounded by 
the members of the orchestra and others, smiling, applaud- 
ing and joining in the songs of the children by turns and 
acknowledging with infinite grace and feeling the noisy 



THE STAGE IN BALTIMORE. 357 

shouts and clamors of her youthful admirers. Her whole 
heart was evidently in the occasion. Afterwards when she 
was in Washington a large number of eminent congress- 
men and high officials of the government were present, 
among them Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. Miss Lind 
was at her best, and sang "Hail Columbia" as she had 
never sung; it before. The enthusiasm of the audience 
knew no bounds. As the last notes of the song died away, 
Mr. Webster arose from his seat and bowed to the gifted 
singer, his face flushed with emotion and delight ; she 
gracefully returned the salutation. In a moment the great 
audience was on its feet, waving handkerchiefs, clapping 
hands and shouting with delight. 

John William Albaugh made his first regular engage- 
ment on any stage at the Holliday, under Mr. Ford's man- 
agement, in 1855. He was employed as walking gentle- 
man at the salary of eight dollars a week, which was consid- 
ered not bad then. 

Among the theatrical personages about that time was 
Mrs. Harvey Tucker, who became lessee of the Front 
Street Theatre in 1S54, her managers being James J. 
Robbins and H. B. Matthews. This house was afterwards 
closed for some years, but in 1870 was leased by William 
Seim, in whose hands it became a successful variety theatre. 

At this old house Miss Addie Anderson, who some years 
ago was famous in* " Mazeppa," made her ddbut. So did 
also Mrs. Frank Drew, who was a Marylander and one 
whose reputation added lustre to that of her native state. 
Her first appearance was in the character of the "Duke of 
York," played to the elder Booth's " Richard III." In the 
same character Miss Cornelia Jefferson made her debut. 
George Charles Jordon was a Baltimore man and plaved 
first to a Baltimore audience, 



358 BALTIMORE. 

The old Baltimore Museum had a somewhat varied and 
not uninteresting history. It was built by a remarkable 
man, Charles William Peale, whose versatility and pluck 
made him a notable character. 

He was what is know as a " Jack-of-all-trades" and, 
singularly enough, seemed to have been a master of sev- 
eral of them as well. He was considered a skillful dentist, 
then took to saddlery, and made a reputation as a manu- 
facturer of pig-skin. 

Portrait painting too came in for its share of attention, 
and while the laurels of Gainsborough or Sir Joshua Rey- 
nolds were safe, still a great many portraits by Peale are 
still in existence and valued by the possessors as interesting 
if not great works of art. 

Mr. Peale's devotion to the pencil and brush was shown 
in a somewhat eccentric way by the names he bestowed 
upon his three boys, who were respectively called Raphael, 
Rembrandt and Rubens. No doubt, having done what he 
could in this way to make them the successors of the great 
masters of art, this enthusiastic father dreamed of a remark- 
able future for his sons. 

Besides his various trades and professions Mr. Peale was 
a naturalist and taxidermist of no mean pretensions, and an 
inventor who had the usual fortune of inventors. Such a 
man to-day would either take first rank in some one pur- 
suit — for he seemed to have been blessed with untiring 
energy, or else he would go to the wall, as many a good 
man does, as a crank. But in the closing years of the last 
century, when populations were smaller and skilled men in 
all departments of life fewer in this country, a man was apt 
to be valued by the number of things he could do. So 
Peale and his sons became, if not great, at least important 
members of the community in which they lived. 



THE STACK IN BALTIMORE. 359 

The $14,000 which the Museum cost, involved Mr. Peale 
for life, so that he found his future one long struggle to 
adjust his living to his debt, or in more modern language, 
much of his time was necessarily given to financiering. 

The Museum was one of the earliest in the United 
States and was occupied largely with objects of art, or of 
natural history, painted or prepared by Peale or some of his 
sons. At a later date the old structure was torn down and 
a handsome one erected in its place. This also went 
through many vicissitudes and was finally purchased by Mr. 
Edmund Peale, who sold its lease in 1845 to P. T. Barnum, 
from whose hands it afterwards passed to those ot Albert • 
N. Hann, who got it for an English musical troupe. Two 
years afterwards the building was again remodelled by Mrs. 
Hann and Joshua Sillsbee, the comedian. Then John E. 
Owens became lessee, purchasing Sillsbee's share. Henry 
C. Jarrett took hold of it in 1851, making here his first 
essay at theatrical management. After Jarrett came Mr. 
George Kunkle, who renovated the theatre once more and 
opened it for Kunkle's Ethiopian Opera. After that it ran 
down, becoming a mere drinking-place and not very reputa- 
ble. While being occupied as a dancediouse in 1866 a man 
was shot there and its character was not improved by the 
occurrence. 

Finally in 1873 this old theatre was burned, and, as if to 
wipe out all traces of its later history, the site was sold 
to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, who paid 
$225,000 for it. 

In tlie palmy days of the Museum, when Jarrett was 
manager, besides the company already mentioned, the stars 
included Charlotte Cushman, Mrs. Sinclair, John Brougham, 
and most of the notables of the day. Miss Mary Ann 
Graham, who afterwards married Clifton Tayleure, was 



3 6o BALTIMORE. 

engaged at the old Museum, and Mrs. John Hoey made 
her first appearance on the American stage there in 1839, 
as well as her two sisters afterwards, Mrs. Charles Howard 
and Mrs. Fogrof. 

Salaries were not high. The stock companies of fifty 
or even thirty years ago could hardly hope to become 
wealthy from the proceeds of their work. Jefferson, Owens 
and their compeers and associates were, if not content, at 
least willing to receive from fifty to sixty dollars a week 
for their valuable services. 

On one noted occasion James Wallack, Jr., Mrs. Wallack 
and James Brutus Booth — a triangular constellation that 
play-goers of to-day would go a long distance and give a great 
deal of money to see — played to a thirty-two dollar house. 
Barney Williams in a comedy called " Bumpology" played 
to a forty-six dollar house, and John Brougham in 1845 to 
an audience which was smaller by one or two tickets. 

When Baltimore makes a list of the names she delights to 
honor, among the statesmen, soldiers, poets and men of 
affairs, the actors are not forgotten. Chief among these 
are the celebrated members of the Booth family, the first of 
whom made this city his adopted home, and the younger 
found in it the place of their nativity. 

Junius Brutus Booth, as the world knows, was an English- 
man who filled obscure positions, starred in the provinces, 
finally rose to the honor of an engagement at Drury Lane 
and rivalry with Kean, and then came to the United States 
to be thenceforth identified with the development of the 
stage in our country. 

His arrival here was in 182 1, twenty-five years of age, with 
a reputation already established and his methods thoroughly 
formed. Too much has been written critically about the 
elder Booth for me to attempt to add a word to what has 



THE STAGE IN BALTIMORE. 361 

already been said on that score. His genius was of such 
a high order that it excused if it did not account for his 
less public life, with all its whims and eccentricities. 

One of the most fruitful sources of the many personal 
anecdotes told about Booth was his humanity toward the 
lower animals, which in time became almost a mania, so 
that at one time no Buddhist could have excelled him in his 
refusal of animal food. He would not permit it upon his 
table and became, it is said, a strict vegetarian. Less 
philosophical perhaps than Benjamin Franklin, who was re- 
converted to meat eating by seeing a fish opened and his 
cannibal diet disclosed, he resolutely set his face against all 
indulgence of that nature. 

On one occasion, during a starring journey, he was in a 
Kentucky town, Lexington I believe, when he saw some 
boys who had caught a rat. Instantly the tragedian swept 
down upon them and secured their prey, which however 
could derive no benefit from a rescue, as it was quite dead. 
Some boxes standing in front of a store attracted Booth's 
attention, and rapidly arranging these as a sort of pulpit, the 
unapproachable master of passion and feeling laid the limp 
body of the little animal on top in plain view and began a 
fierce but touching tirade upon the subject of man's in- 
humanity to the lower animals. The wonderful voice that 
had charmed great audiences, the facility in gesture and all 
the skill acquired in years of professional training were 
brought into play, so that the rapidly gathering crowd 
stood spellbound, some even moved to tears, and all 
touched and subdued by the mastery of genius. 

I do not know whether this story lias before been printed. 
I have not seen it if it has. The authority for it was the 
late William Ross Wallace, the poet, who was present at the 
time. 



362 BALTIMORE. 

Another anecdote, hardly less characteristic, is on the 
same order. 

A clergyman of the Episcopal Church was invited to read 
the burial-service of the church at a funeral to take place 
from Booth's rooms at the hotel where he was stopping. 
Solemnly, as befitted such an occasion, the minister ap- 
peared at the appointed time and was ushered into the 
apartment, where stood a little casket veiled by a pall. 
Evidently it was a child that had died — but whose child ? 
The reverend gentleman was at a loss to tell where his con- 
solations should be directed. Booth stood impassive and 
the words of ghostly cheer died upon the good man's lips 
as he considered that perhaps the actor, in a moment of 
philanthropy, had undertaken this office for some stranger. 

Overcome with curiosity to see the remains over which 
he was to pronounce the sacred words he moved towards 
the little coffin, when Booth, divining his purpose, stepped 
forward and lifted the pall, disclosing to the minister's 
horrified view — two spring chickens, with their toes turned 
up in the most pathetic way. 

The reader may imagine better than I can describe the 
indignation of the clergyman, who strode away in a very 
unclerical mood ; but the tragedian, it is said, never moved a 
muscle, but having seen his visitor depart, gravely read the 
service himself. 

Yet this incident, which, by the way, is given on the same 
authority as the preceding one, was not the result of irrev- 
erence but rather of a deep-seated conviction of the sacred- 
ness of all life, which under certain conditions of mental 
excitement, which Booth was currently believed to have 
increased by indulgence in liquor, became a mania with 
him. 

His reverence, indeed, to the forms and even the edifices 



THE STAGE IN BALTIMORE. 363 

of religious worship was well known. All temples <> r 
religion were sacred to him, and his head was invariably 
uncovered in passing a place of worship. 

It is said that Booth discouraged as far as possible his 
son Edwin's early taste for the stage, even denying him 
the pleasure of going to the theatre when a boy. 




CHAPTER XXV. 

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC WORKS. 

'HE earliest school fund of which we have 
any record in Baltimore was derived from an 
export tax on skins and peltries. That was 
way back in the latter part of the seven- 
teenth century. Then a bear-skin paid nine 
pence Stirling, a wolf-skin one and a half pence, a deer four 
pence, etc., toward the pedagogue's expenses. With the large 
supply of skins and small supply of learning at that time, 
this fund was for some years ample for all school purposes 
in the colony. Then after the " beasts that perish " had 
become scarce, the next method of raising the necessary 
fund was by tax upon tobacco. It is wonderful how many 
uses it served in the economy of the colonial settlers. 
Debts were paid with it, as were also minister's salaries, 
taxes and indeed almost everything for which money would 
be used were it obtainable. The imposition for school 
support was three pence per hogshead on all tobacco ex- 
ported, of which one-half went to this purpose. 

The school-masters of that period were of the poorest 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC WORKS. 365 

material imaginable. From the dissolute priest to the con- 
vict who was serving- out his term as a white slave, there 
was a range of incompetent school-masters that could have 
done little to foster a thirst for learning. 

During the eighteenth century we learn that the schools 
increased, until about the middle of the century the free 
school, the first in Baltimore, made its appearance. A. 
generation later, Noah Webster, of dictionary fame, tarried 
in Baltimore on his way from Mount Vernon, and he was so 
charmed with the place that he announced his intention of 
opening a school here. But we have no other record of 
that institution than the advertisement in which he proposes 
to open a school " for the instruction of young ladies and 
gentlemen in reading, speaking and writing the English 
language with propriety and correctness. He will also 
teach vocal music in as great perfection as it is taught in 
America." It will be noticed that the trick of advertising 
is not a late invention. 

Following this came the announcement, which was im- 
portant as an indication of what was to follow in later years, 
of a course of lectures on the English language. Baltimore, 
as we know it, is a city of schools, libraries, lecture courses, 
university advantages, and all that can conspire to the 
cultivation of intellect. Even in the early days of our inde- 
pendence the dawning of the same spirit may be observed. 
The immediate outcome of the Webster lectures was the 
establishment of the first Baltimore academy on Charles 
Street. We read, however, that it was not a success. Its 
curriculum was to include natural philosophy, higher mathe- 
matics and the classics. Four years before the close of the 
century the new Baltimore academy was instituted, beginning 
in a school building on Light Street. All that belonged to 
the college course of that day was supposed to be taught 



366 BALTIMORE. 

there. Mr. Priestly, who was the principal, afterwards joined 
Bishop Carroll in obtaining a charter for the Baltimore 
College on Mulberry Street, the money for which was pro- 
cured by means of a lottery. 

The School Act of 1816 provided for the appointment of 
nine school commissioners for each county, and in 1826 the 
present school system was established by an act passed in 
February. One of the provisions of this act was for the 
establishment of primary schools throughout the state, and 
by another, public schools in Baltimore were provided for. 
This was followed by the provision for and the appointment 
of a Board of School Commissioners for the city, which con- 
sisted of six members, with the Mayor as cx-officio chairman. 
The city, according to the plan then made, was divided into 
six districts, with one school in each district. Unless ex- 
empted by the Board, each child who attended school was 
required to pay one dollar per quarter. 

The first of these schools was opened in 1829, the ear- 
liest being one in the basement of the Presbyterian church, 
on the east side of Eutaw between Saratoga and Mulberry 
Streets. William T. Coffin had the distinguished honor 
of being the first public school teacher in Baltimore. The 
first Board of School Commissioners consisted of Jacob 
Small, John B. Morris, Fielding Lucas, Jr., Joseph Cushing, 
John Reese and William Hubbard. 

When I arrived in Baltimore in 1835 there were eight 
hundred and sixty-seven scholars with eight principals in 
the public schools. When I left school the number had 
increased to almost as many thousands of pupils as there 
had been hundreds before, and over a hundred teachers had 
taken the field. 

Evening schools followed very soon, and ten years after 
the establishment of the first public school the first high 



school for males was instituted, at which the higher 
branches of English and classical literature should be 
taught. This was the male Central High School on Court- 
land Street. 1 1 was under the charge of Doctor Nathan C. 
Brooks. This high school in 1866 was changed in name 
to Baltimore City College. Starting on Courtlancl Street, 
it was moved to the corner of South and Second Streets, 
then to Lombard and Hanover Streets, and finally back to 
its starting-place, where it remained until a suitable build- 
ing was erected for its accommodation on the corner of 
Holliday and Fayette Streets, where a tavern formerly 
stood. But this building was removed by fire and the col- 
lege went back to Courtland Street, where it remained 
till its Howard Street building was completed. Its course 
for a few years was more nomadic probably than any other 
institution of learning in the country. 

In 1S44 the first establishment of the female high schools 
was made. Four years later the grading of the public schools 
was accomplished. Following this came the opening of 
several schools for colored children, for whom no provision 
had previously been made. There was, however, considerable 
difficulty about the payment of such necessary expenses as 
salaries and rentals, and finally an act of the Legislature was 
necessary to give the requisite authority to the Board of 
Commissioners for assessments and disbursements for this 
purpose. 

The number of School Commissioners has been gradu- 
ally increased. 

Besides the Baltimore City College on Howard Street, 
erected in 1874, and the two female high schools, east 
and west, each with its well-chosen faculty and modern 
methods, such as belong to higher educational institutions, 
there is a State Normal School, for the training of teachers 



368 BALTIMORE. 

for our public schools, and to this each county is entitled to 
send two scholars, under certain restrictions of age, etc., for 
each representative in the General Assembly. The build- 
ing occupied by this school was erected on the corner of 
Lafayette and Carrollton Avenues, upon an appropriation 
granted by the Legislature. The quarters of this college 
are, in some respects, ahead of any institution of its kind in 
the city. The building, one hundred and twenty feet long 
by over a hundred in width, is of brick; it is well venti- 
lated and lighted, with suitable lecture-rooms, laboratory, 
gymnasium, library, offices, and other apartments. In its 
purpose and work this is one of the most important estab- 
lishments in the city. 

But the special pride of Baltimore, and that which gives 
it its title to preeminency as an educational centre, is the 
presence of the Johns Hopkins University. This is no 
make-believe university, such as the United States has a 
plethora of, but one which ranks with the proudest of the 
older institutions ; a place to which the graduates of Yale, 
of Harvard, Williams, or Columbia are o;lad to come for 
the advantages of a post-graduate course, and whose de- 
grees confer an honor upon the wearer not to be excelled. 

This university was founded by a philanthropist who was 
notoriously careful about his personal expenditure, even to 
the point of penuriousness, yet was always helpful to the 
deserving and a magnificent giver to great causes. Johns 
Hopkins, a grocer, who invested in Baltimore & Ohio stock 
and other property so wisely that he acquired great 
wealth, was one of the best-known figures in Baltimore for 
many a year. He died in 1873 at the age of seventy-eight 
years, being five years older than the century. The presi- 
dent of the Merchants' Bank of Baltimore, and a director 
of a dozen other wealthy institutions, could afford to wear 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC WORKS. 369 

what he pleased and to do as he pleased. When history is 
written, people will only remember Johns Hopkins as the 
man who founded schools, homes, asylums, hospitals and 
colleges, one who gave millions where most men would 
have eiven hundreds of dollars. 

"The Johns Hopkins University for the Promotion of 
Education in Maryland " was founded in 1867, during the 
lifetime of its principal promoter. His endowment to it 
upon his death amounted to over three millions of dollars, 
yet so greatly has the work of this institution grown, so 
successful has it been, that it is to-day in need of funds, in 
need of buildings. Poverty in an individual often denotes 
a spendthrift character, but poverty in a well-endowed uni- 
versity that has always been well managed, means growth, 
activity, usefulness. 

The name of Johns Hopkins is so well known all over 
the world in connection with the university which he 
founded that the bequests of others to the same institution 
are overshadowed, and apt to be forgotten. The principal 
part of the property which he gave was invested in such a 
way that it still bears interest, but at one time the Balti- 
more & Ohio, of which a large part of it consisted, was so 
depreciated in value that had it not been for assistance 
from other sources the university would have suffered 
materially. I" this emergency the work was carried for- 
ward by the aid of several public-spirited citizens of Balti- 
more, and three gentlemen who reside in other cities, who 
made up a sum of over one hundred thousand dollars to tide 
over the difficulty. 

The late John \V. McCoy, of Baltimore, made the uni- 
versity his residuary legatee. His gift, which exceeded in 
value a quarter of a million dollars, included his library, 
which has been of special good to the institution. 



37° 



BALTIMORE. 



Others have given liberally, their donations applying to 
special urgent needs. Mrs. Donovan was the donor of a 
professorship for the encouragement of studies in English 
Literature, on which foundation the lectures of Professors 
Winchester, Moulton and Kittredge have been given. The 
Turnbull lectureship and the Bruce fellowship are com- 
memorative of two of the bright young men who began 
their studies at the university. 

Besides the libraries already mentioned, those of Doctors 
Worthington, Johnston and Donaldson have been added. 

Gifts of money for the purchase of books have also been 
generously bestowed, so that the university is rich in this 
respect. Here also the Maryland Academy of Sciences has 
placed a large part of its collection, and the overflow from 
the Mercantile Library of books not suitable for its purposes, 
is quite considerable. The published list of gifts of this 
nature from private individuals and societies is so large 
that one cannot begin to repeat it here. The works com- 
prise the latest utterances of science, the most profound 
researches of history, the investigations of the English 
naturalist and French savant, and the metaphysics of the 
German thinker. There is no field of learning, no time, no 
language that does not seem to be represented in this abode 
of learning. For fifteen years the work of the university 
has gone on and every year shows a wider scope and greater 
possibilities. The buildings in which it is situated have 
grown around a nucleus, formed in 1S76. in two dwelling- 
houses, which stood at the corner of Howard and Ross 
Streets. There has always been a great deal of discussion 
about making this a permanent site of the university. But 
while a great many people were talking about the advisa- 
bility of moving it to the country and citing the probable 
intention of its founder, it kept on growing where it was. 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC WORKS. 371 

Three large laboratories were built, a gymnasium was also 

added ; Levering Hall came next and other property in 
the neighborhood will probably follow. New buildings, 
rendered necessary by the increased needs of the institution, 
are projected. 

McCoy Hall was added to the Johns Hopkins University 
by a vote in December of 1891. It was intended as a me- 
morial to the liberal benefactor of the university, fohn W. 
McCoy, who made large bequests to the institution. The 
building, on the corner of Monument and Garden Streets, 
on property belonging to the university, was designed to 
include the much needed accommodations for classes in lan- 
guages, history and philosophy, as well as an assembly hall 
to seat six hundred people and a well-arranged library- 
room. 

Mr. McCoy left to the college his valuable library, which 
was especially rich in works relating to art and archaeology. 

There were twelve trustees named in the will of the 
founder and on the 23d of December, 1S74, they elected as 
the first president of the university Doctor Daniel G. Gil- 
man, a New Englander, who had been president of the Uni- 
versity of California. The four professors, eight lecturers 
and four associates with whom tin; university was started, 
have grown to a staff of sixty-four instructors, excluding the 
student assistants. So the number of students has increased 
from eighty-nine at the beginning to between five and six 
hundred at the present time, and this number is so rapidly 
increasing that it is estimated that at the ratio already fixed 
it will by the beginning of the new century reach over one 
thousand. In all, more than two thousand students have 
already been registered since the beginning, and half of these 
are from Maryland, while the remainder come from every 
state in the Union. 



37 2 



BALTIMORE. 



Mr. Pratt, in the year 1882, presented the city with his 
magnificent donation to the cause of popular intellectual 
culture. The conditions imposed by him were complied 
with and his gift of one million dollars was placed in the 
hands of trustees, of whom he himself was one, and applied 
to the founding of the great library which has made his 
name one of the most familiar in this city. 

Perhaps nothing can better describe the purpose of this 
gift than Mr. Pratt's own letter to the Mayor and City 
Council of Baltimore : — 

"Baltimore, January 21, 1882. 

"I have for some years contemplated establishing a free circulating 
library for our whole city, and in pursuance of this plan I have entered into 
a contract to erect'a fire-proof building on my Mulberry Street lot, capable 
of holding two hundred thousand volumes, my purpose being to have 
branches connected with it in the four quarters of the city under the same 
management. The excavation for the foundation has been commenced 
and the building will be well advanced this year and completed in the 
summer of 1883. It will cost, when ready for occupancy, about two hun- 
dred and twenty-five thousand dollars, and upon its completion I propose 
to deed it to the city. 

" The title to all the books and property is to be vested in the city and 
I will paytoyourhonorablebody $833,333,331 making $1,580,333. 33 J, pro- 
vided the city will grant and create an annuity of $50,000.00 per annum, 
forever, payable quarterly to the board of trustees for the support and 
maintenance for the library and its branches. I propose that a board of 
nine trustees be incorporated for the management of 'The Prait Free 
Library for the City of Baltimore,' the board to be selected by myself from 
our best citizens, and all vacancies which shall occur shall be filled by the 
board. 

"The articles of incorporation will contain a provision that no trustee 
or officer shall be appointed or removed on religious or political grounds. 
The trustees are to receive the quarterly payments and to expend them at 
their discretion for the purposes of the library. It is believed that this 
annual sum will afford a sufficient fund for the purchase of books for estab- 
lishing the branches. The trustees will be required to make an annual 




xz 



sy> — 



tt/L^Hi 



7C 



report to the Mayor and City Council of their proceedings and of the con- 
dition of the library, etc." 

Then follows a statement of the provisions of the city 
charter for carrying out such a plan and accepting trusts 
for projects similar to the one proposed. The letter con- 
tinues — 

" I suggest that if the money to be paid by me as above stated were 
added to the sinking fund and the interest carefully funded, it would in no 
very long time pay off the debt of the city, but this is intended only as a 

suggestion The debt may be created by the city, provided it is 

authorized by an Act of the General Assembly of Maryland and by an 
Ordinance of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, submitted to the 

legal voters of the city 

" The plan proposed for the support and management of the library is the 
result of long and careful consideration, and I am satisfied is well adapted 
to promote the great object in view, — the free circulation of the books of a 
large and ever-growing library among the people of the whole city. I 
trust that it will receive the approval of your honorable body and of the 

citizens of Baltimore. 

" Enuch Pratt." 

The building on Mulberry Street in which the Pratt 
library is housed is a Romanesque structure of marble, with 
large light rooms and ornamental facade and a tower 
ninety-eight feet high. In addition to the space devoted 
to books there is a large reading-room. 

It will be seen by the carefully arranged plan shown in 
every line of the above letter that the conception is not a 
sudden one in the mind of the founder. It had evidently 
been matured after long and careful thought. In its man- 
agement we cannot fail to praise this institution and to 
admire both the wisdom and the good fortune of the bene- 
factor who has lived to execute as well as to plan his work. 
Although a young establishment, yet no one who sees how 
thoroughly necessary this library has become to a large 



374 BALTIMORE. 

class of citizens can fail to believe that it is one of the 
wisest benefactions in the city. At its book counter, old 
and young, black and white, rich and poor are seen stand- 
ino-, with the true democracy of a common want, a universal 
need. 

The Baltimore Female College, started in 1S49 and 
endowed by the State in i860, was at first a Methodist 
institution that is now undenominational. Charles Carroll 
of Carrollton founded St. Peter's Male Free School for 
boys. This is a Catholic institution, as are also St. Cath- 
arine's Normal School and St. Mary's Theological Sem- 
inary, which is the oldest establishment of its kind in the 
United States, and probably the most important. Shortly 
after its foundation St. Mary's College was added, which 
became, in 1806, St. Mary's University. The Business 
Colleges of Bryant, Stratton & Sadler on Charles Street, 
and of Eaton & Burnett, also on Charles Street, are insti- 
tutions which rank high in their class. 

St. Mary's Industrial School is another institution the 
purpose of which is outside of the ordinary educational 
institution. The idea of manual training has been also suc- 
cessfully tried here, and military discipline is a feature of 
the school which is divided into a battalion of ten com- 
panies, in which between two hundred and three hundred 
boys are well drilled. 

John McDonough was born in Baltimore on the twenty- 
ninth of December, 1779, and died in New Orleans nearly 
fifty-one years later. In his half century of life he managed 
to compress more than an ordinary lifetime's accomplish- 
ment of good, being a man of strong purpose and benev- 
olent heart. 

His start in life was due to William M. Taylor, who was 
one of Baltimore's leading merchants in the early years of 




Ppatt LiibFary. 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC WORKS. 375 

this century. At that gentleman's instance Mr. McDonough 
left Baltimore for New Orleans to take charge of the 
other's interests there, and after that lived in the latter 
city. 

After a while he went into business on his own account, 
and prospered so that he succeeded in accumulating wealth, 
being in fact a millionaire. Before the war, it will be 
remembered, men who could count their wealth in seven 
figures were far less common than at the present da)-. 

Mr. McDonough was a bachelor whose favorite occupation 
was the relief and education of the poor. A hobby of that 
kind is not too often ridden to death, perhaps because com- 
paratively few men even among the refined and educated 
realize what a humanizing influence education is. We are 
in the habit of talking about it a great deal at school board 
meetings and on campaign rostrums, but we hardly value 
as we should the fact that it not only increases comfort in 
life but decreases crime. As a rule the man of education is 
not a criminal : intelligence and vice are not friends. 

In pursuance of his idea Mr. McDonough made a will 
some twelve years before his death, and left the bulk of his 
great estate. $1,500,000, to the cities of New Orleans and 
Baltimore, to further his philanthropic purposes toward 
the poor. 

The portion of the McDonough estate given to Baltimore 
was not used for twenty years, the delay in carrying out his 
wishes being caused by the war partly, and in some measure 
by subsequent litigation, At length, however, the matter 
was taken in hand and steps were made toward the estab- 
lishment of a farm school near this city, according to the 
provisions of the will. 

In 1S68 the city of Baltimore, through its officers, 
appointed the present board of trustees, to whom was con- 



37 6 BALTIMORE. 



fided the care and management of eight hundred and thirty 
acres of farm land, buildings, etc., which were purchased as 
soon as the city's title to the bequest was confirmed. 

The School farm is located twelve miles northwest of the 
city, on the line of the Western Maryland railroad. It is 
watered by Gwynn's Falls and is a beautiful and healthy 
spot. When first purchased it was found necessary to 
make a great many repairs and additions to the buildings 
upon the property. In 1873, on tne 2Ist °f November, 
the school was formally opened, there being twenty-one 
scholars at the commencement. In 1881 the permanent 
buildings now in use were commenced, and some of these 
have been only completed within the past two or three 
years. 

There is on the farm a postoffice and railway station-, the 
latter showing clearly how great has been the growth of the 
institution since its beginning. 

Associated with Mr. McDonough's name in this wise 
charity is that of Dr. Zenas Barnum, who added an estate 
valued at $80,000 to the endowment fund of $708,500 
bequeathed by the founder. This money is invested in 
Baltimore city stock, the farm, buildings and several tracts 
of Louisiana land, the latter being for the most part unim- 
proved. 

The bequest of Dr. Barnum, which was made in 1882, 
was for the promotion of manual training in mechanic arts 
principally. It admirably supplements the original design 
of the farm school. 

In no way can I give so clear an idea of the plan and 
purpose of the McDonough school as by describing its 
operation. In the first place the foundation is intended to 
include the poor boys of Baltimore, after them their kind 
throughout the State of Maryland, and then the lads of 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC WORKS. 377 

other states, who are unable to compass that most desira- 
ble of all objects, a good education. 

Owing to natural limitations the working plan only 
includes the city boys first named. These, to make their 
application for admission valid, must be of respectable 
associations, poor, sound in body and mind and not less 
than ten nor over fourteen years of age. Any such boy, 
provided the list is not already full, is entitled to the priv- 
ileges of the farm school. 

The accepted applicants are admitted absolutely free 
from all expenses either for tuition, board or clothing. 
From the beginning to the end of the course they are sup- 
ported, cared for and instructed. The farm school docs 
not mean play by any means, but it does mean work, under 
conditions and in a way that must be better than play to 
an\ - earnest lad. 

There is a regular course of study, includingthe branches 
taught in first-class schools; with prizes, medals and awards 
to stimulate the ambition of the students. To some of the 
citizens of Baltimore these incentives are for the most part 
due. In connection with the school is a library which con- 
tains upwards of 3,000 volumes. The school is under mili- 
tary discipline, which however is applied in a somewhat 
modified form to suit the peculiar conditions of the estab- 
lishment. The scholars are organized into two companies, 
who have every day a regular drill. I believe, but without 
arms. Their officers are not only in authority during drill 
hours, but have considerable to say in the management of 
the affairs of the farm. 

The work of the farm is of such a character that while it 
gives the boys a better insight into the methods of this too 
much neglected occupation, it also strengthens the muscles 
and develops the character of the young farmers. Nor is 



37S BALTIMORE. 

the great fact of individuality overlooked, for out of the 
almost infinite variety of wholesome work offered there is 
something for the taste of every one except the incurably 
indolent. 

Farming and gardening' in all their branches, horticul- 

o o o 

ture, floriculture, the care of bees, the pasturing and 
stabling of flocks ; these all come within the scope and 
accomplishment of the farm. 

Besides these things there is the manual training alluded 
to, by which the boy who has any mechanical bent has an 
opportunity to become proficient in the use of some tool or 
handicraft. Printing- is one of the arts taught, and the 
school has for some time published a paper, written, set up, 
and printed on the farm. 

Besides farm work and handicrafts, the pupils at the 
McDonough school are shown the open door to scientific 
study, which they may afterwards enter if they choose. 
Very often the wisest thing that can be done with a boy is 
not so much to instruct him in certain branches of educa- 
tion, as to let him see there are a number of paths which he 
may follow and thus give him the option of doing what his 
nature calls for. 

The McDonough bo\-s have, among other things, the 
benefit of an elementary training in meteorological work. 
Instruments, etc., are provided, by which complete weather 
observations, according to government standards and 
methods, are made every day ; of course this work falls to 
the share of the few who show special aptitude for it. 

Then, too, drawing, mapping and all the preliminary 
work of a student in engineering, comes within the course. 
The fact that each piece of woodland and meadow, the 
location of every building, hill or spring has been charted 
and drawn by the pupils, cannot but enhance their interest 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC WORKS. 379 

in the stud)- of geography. Taken up in this way the 
science no longer remains dead and dry, and an atlas is 
something more than a printed collection of tangled lines 
and vivid colors. It is hardly possible to give anything 
like a complete account of this institution. I have dwelt 
more at length upon it because I feel that it is as powerful 
for good as it is unique in its methods, and no one can 
estimate the value of it. Society, if it advances at all, 
must be a growth like the growth of a tree — from the bot- 
torn up. There is little need to devise ways and means to 
induce the sunshine to rest on the branches, but if we can 
bring it to the roots we sometimes may do incalculable ser- 
vice. 

I have spoken of the prizes given to those who excel in 
their work and studies at the farm school. There are cer- 
tificates of distinction issued for the ones who have shown 
proficiency in their studies, and besides these, medals and 
cups for special excellence in certain lines. Scholarships, 
too, which entitle the holders to an extra year at the farm, 
are stoutly contended for by the more ambitious scholars. 
People who are friendly to this institution have made all 
sorts of gifts in the way of books, maps, minerals, pictures, 
etc., in fact anything which will in any way help along its 
work. 

What becomes of the McDonough boys ? is a question 
frequently asked by those interested in their progress. 
They may be found in stores, counting-houses, banks and 
all manner of places of business throughout the city of 
Baltimore. A hundred boys at a time educated, trained, 
elevated, means an output which in the course of a genera- 
tion must tell very decidedly on the tone of the community 
in which they live and work. 



3S0 BALTIMORE. 

People hear the name " Monumental City," by which 
Baltimore is often distinguished, and strangers are apt to 
ask why it was bestowed. Perhaps it will be well in this 
chapter to give briefly some account of the principal monu- 
ments. The most important, of course, is that erected to 
George Washington in the early part of the century, the 
corner-stone of which was laid in 1815. When the project 
was first talked of and funds for the erection of the monu- 
ment had been partly raised by subscription, it was intended 
to place it where the Battle Monument now stands ; but 
there were several objections to this, one of which was 
that the people in the vicinity thought there was danger in 
having so tall a shaft near their dwellings. It was therefore 
placed on the spot it now occupies, which was then some 
way back in the country. The same year the Battle Monu- 
ment, commemorating the actions at North Point and Fort 
McHenry, and celebrating the heroes who fell there, was 
erected on the site of the old City Hall. Nearly thirty 
years later, a monument to perpetuate the memory of the 
brave young men, Wells and McComas, who did such sig- 
nal service at North Point, was dedicated. Under the aus- 
pices of the Monument Association, and guarded by an 
organization which was called the Wells and McComas 
Riflemen, the remains of the gallant youths were removed 
from Greenmount Cemetery to a catafalque in the hall of 
the Maryland Institute, where they lay in state for three 
days. On the anniversary of the Battle of North Point 
they were accorded the posthumous honor of a military 
funeral, and at its close the bodies were again consigned to 
the tomb with appropriate ceremonies, in the presence of a 
great concourse of people, in Ashland Square. There a 
marble obelisk resting upon a granite base was reared to 
their memory. This occurred during the time Thomas 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC WORKS. 381 

Svvann was Mayor, and he and Honorable John C. Le 
Grand addressed the assembly. The Wilde)- Monument, 
in a square on Broadway, donated by the city, was erected 
in 1865. It was to honor the memory of Thomas Wilde)' 
and was planned by the Odd Fellows. It consists of an 
ornate design in the Grecian Doric order, with Masonic 
emblems carved on the frieze. 

Poe's story, elsewhere told in brief, is kept in mind by a 
simple block of marble surmounting a granite base and 
decorated with a medallion portrait of the poet. It was 
erected at the suggestion of one of the public school prin- 
cipals. The first money for the purpose was raised by en- 
tertainments eiven by young ladies of the high schools, and 
the amount necessary for its completion after various other 
contributions had been made was generously added by Mr. 
Childs of Philadelphia. It stands in Westminster Presby- 
terian church-yard over the remains of the poet. While 
honor is due to those who made this effort to show their 
appreciation of Poe's genius, yet it seems strange that no 
grander memorial should be reared in a city so proud of its 
intellectual life and achievements, to a great man whose name 
shall ever be in the first rank of American poets, and whose 
fame is so intimately connected with that of Baltimore. 
And here in the City of Monuments let me ask where is the 
statue, bust or monument (except in the Levering Hall of 
Johns Hopkins Institute) to Sydney Lanier, whose lines on 
Baltimore are quoted on platform and rostrum — who more 
than Poe cast his lot here among; us ? The naming' of a 
library or public institution after him would be an appro- 
priate honor. 

John McDonough, philanthropist, has also his monu- 
ment, erected at the charge of the city in 1S65. It stands 
in Greenmount Cemetery, and consists of a portrait statue 



382 BALTIMORE. 

resting upon a marble pedestal. There is also a memorial 
of William Ferguson, who sacrificed his life for his fellow- 
men during' the yellow fever epidemic of 1855, and to 
other worth)- men that the people have delighted to honor. 

It is a natural transition from the monuments which beau- 
tify the city to the public parks. The first of these is 
Druid Hill Park, a beautiful pleasure-ground a short dis- 
tance northwest of what were the city limits at the time of 
its purchase. This was originally a private estate, the 
property of Mr. Lloyd M. Rogers. Its history is an inter- 
esting one, the original patent or title to the estate dating 
16SS, and the name Druid Mill was suggested by the 
abundant oak-trees which adorned it. Nicholas Rogers 
bought it in 1709, and the same family held it, down to the 
time of its purchase as a park by the city. One of the 
owners, a grandson of the original purchaser, was a sol< 1 i < ■ r 
in the war for independence, and an officer on the staff of 
Baron DeKalb. He laid out the place with great taste as 
a private park, modelling it after some of the triumphs of 
landscape gardening in England. 

By an act of the City Council in 1858 the Commissioners 
of Finance were authorized to receive a certain percentage 
of the gross earnings of city passenger railways, and invest 
the same in city six per cent, stock, to accumulate as a park 
fund. Messrs. William T. Hooper, John H. B. Latrobe, 
Robert Leslie and Columbus O'Donnell were appointed 
Commissioners by Mayor Swann. After careful examina- 
tions of sites, and considerable difficulty arising from cer- 
tain legal aspects of the case, the Druid Hill estate was 
purchased by the Commissioners and the work of convert- 
ing it into a park went rapidly forward from that day. 
This great pleasure-ground has four entrances, the main 
one beine at Madison Avenue Extended. The others are 




3 



hM 




■ vy 



EDUCATIONAL INSTIT1 ["IONS AND PUIiLIC WORI I 383 

al Druid llill Avenue, Eutaw Street and Oliver Street, 
which last is called the Mount Royal entrance. The main 
entrance is through a gateway ol Nova Scotia freestone, 
beyond which is a broad avenue, which uirtil lately was 
bordered by ugly urns, whirl), however, have been removed 
to Patterson Park, and are so well covered with vines and 
flowers in summer time as to be less ibjectionable than in 
the winter. Druid Mill Lake, a sheel of water fifty-five 

in extent, with an average depth ol thirtj feet, is in the 

southeast part ol the grounds, Besides this there is a 
smaller lake and the high surfaa reservoir. The small 
lake, which is called Spring Lake, is four acres in extent. 
The eh i<l (harm of Druid I I ill Park is in its natural beauty. 
lip' attractiveness of its wooded hills and pleasant glens 
has not been spoiled by too much artificial arrangement. 
Unlike some ol the famous parks of American cities, ol 
( hicago, or New York, or Philadelphia, the work has been 
done along the lines laid down in the first place by nature. 
As in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, one can wander under 
the trees and over the grass without being constantly con- 
fronted by annoying, impertinent signboards which request 
him plea e to keep off. I ie can gath< r flowers in the spring 
or nuts in the autumn without hem" molested and made to 
feel that his pleasure-ground is only a show place after all. 
There are nearly twenty miles of magnificent carriage 
roads in the park, some of the avenues being sixty fei 1 
wide, and tin re are as main miles ol foot-paths as a good 
walker would care to cover in a da)'. Then there are the 
springs, Silver Spring and others, where the children as 
well as older folk, love to congregate. There are facilities 
foi wintei .port and summer pleasure ; grounds for games 
la crosse, football and tennis and quarters where the 
skaters may make themselves comfortable. 



3S4 BALTIMORE. 

The very names that belong to the different portions of 
the park are attractive, such as The Dell, Tempest Hill, 
Prospect Hill, Philosopher's Walk, etc., etc. From almost 
every point of any elevation fine views can be had, and the 
air is pure and pleasant. Not the least attractive thing 
about Druid Hill Park (in which it differs from that of 
Philadelphia) is in its approaches. One does not care to 
drive through blocks of squalor and misery as a preparation 
for an afternoon outing. 

Patterson Park is smaller than Druid Hill, and of a very 
different character, yet it is also interesting and enjoyable, 
though much more artificial in its arrangement. Its whole 
area originally was very little larger than Druid Hill Lake, 
but it contains a beautiful conservatory and many rare 
trees and plants. It was laid out in the year 1853 by the 
city, on ground presented by William Patterson as far back 
as 1827. Other land has since been added to the orioinal 
gift. 

Federal Hill Park is in South Baltimore, between 
Hughes and Warren Streets. Then there are smaller parks, 
and park streets, avenues, and squares, which tend greatly 
to beautify the city. Baltimore is unfortunate in having 
Washington as a neighbor. People are too apt to compare 
its beauty with that of the national capital. It would be 
impossible to estimate the value of the spots of greenness 
which abound within our city limits, the trees with their 
cool shade, the resting-places for birds, and a delight to the 
tired eyes of man. Nor can we fairly realize the benefit of 
the hilly land on which the city of Baltimore is situated, 
that conduces so much to health through the system of 
drainage which it makes possible. 

The present acreage of Baltimore parks is as follows : 
Druid Hill Park, including lakes, woodland and meadow, 




a. 



i 
•o 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC WORKS. 3S5 

A 

aggregates six hundred and ninety-three acres. To the 
fifty-nine acres which Patterson Park had originally, sixty 
more were added in 1882. Riverside has seventeen and a 
quarter, Federal Hill eight and a quarter and Carroll Park 
fourteen acres. The total amounts therefore to eight hun- 
dred and forty-eight and a half acres. 

The addition of '82 to Patterson Park was authorized by 
popular vote. One of the things for which the people of a 
large city will most readily vote is a public park: it 
means so much to those especially who have small means 
and large families, whose lives have of necessity very little 
of freshness and greenness in them. The wealthy have 
little need for an urban pleasure-ground, syice they can 
seek green trees, mountains, rivers or seaside where they 
please, and come back from long outings with the tan of 
unlimited breeze and sunshine on their faces. But the 
poor and even the middle classes in a city need the parks, 
which become to them great conservators of health, and 
cultivate the eye and taste as well. 

If any one scans carefully the crowd that swarms over 
Druid Hill Park on Sunday and yet always seems to 
find room enough for its individual members to follow each 
his own impulse, he will find that it is composed almost 
entirely of those whose week days are occupied closely in 
winning a livelihood. They are glad of the chance to draw 
a full long breath and for one day to be as careless as the 
Southdown sheep that graze over the meadows, or the deer 
in the woods, or the birds and squirrels that have their 
homes in the great old primeval forest trees and live their 
little lives without the necessity for municipal machinery or 
metropolitan institutions. 

The ground upon which Federal Hill Park is situated has- 
been subject to many caves in, so that it will be a long time 



3S6 BALTIMORE. 

before it can be made as valuable to the people as it should 
be. 

Within a few blooks in the very heart of Baltimore are 
to be found libraries such as few cities in this country can 
equal. The Johns Hopkins, already alluded to, is more than 
supplemented by that great reference library, which with 
the building in which it is stored we owe to the munificence 
of the late George Peabody. This library numbers a hun- 
dred and ten thousand volumes, all of which have been 
collected since 1866. It is said that the public of Baltimore 
not only have to thank Mr. Peabody for his direct bequest, 
but also for the indirect influence which he is alleged to 
have exercised over Mr. Johns Hopkins, thus inclining the 
latter to liberality. The Peabody Library is particularly full 
of historical series. 

George Peabody, the London banker, was formerly a 
merchant of Baltimore, although his birthplace was in Mas- 
sachusetts. The great success which he won in England 
as a prince of finance never led him to forget his native 
land, and the gifts which he made to various causes, mostly 
educational, in America, exclusive of the institution which 
bears his name, aggregated over six millions of dollars. 
One of his first donations was fifteen thousand dollars tow- 
ard the American exhibit at the London Exposition in 
1851. This was followed by ten thousand dollars contrib- 
uted to the Kane Arctic Expedition. In Ohio, Mississippi, 
New England or London, wherever he saw a chance to do 
some great good, his hand was always ready. In 1857 he 
established the institute in Baltimore which bears his name. 
This was accomplished during his lifetime. The reference 
library, of which something has already been said, was estab- 
lished and lecture courses and a music academy and art 
gallery formed, all of which are included in the noble 




a 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC WORKS. 3S7 

building which faces the Washington Monument, on the 
corner of Charles and Monument Streets. The original 
sum donated was a credit of three hundred thousand dol- 
lars for building purposes, which gradually grew by gifts to 
a million and a quarter endowment fund. The ground was 
a gift from the founder, who chose the site for the insti- 
tute. 

The building was completed in the autumn of 1861. 
The civil war checked the operation of the project some- 
what, and it was not until 1866 that the institute was for- 
mally opened to the public. 

Appropriate ceremonies in the large hall of the building 
completed the gift. That hall has seen many an enthusi- 
astic audience since that day. Now a concert and again a 
lecture course is added to the long list of cultivating influ- 
ences. One day it is some academic event, for which the 
hall space at the Johns Hopkins is too small, and another 
sees a congregation of the votaries of music or of art. 

One of the first gatherings at the institute was that of 
over twenty thousand school children, who gathered to Jo 
honor to the founder, who addressed them from the steps 
of the building, which was not large enough to contain 
them. 

Some years later a new wing was added to the institute. 
The Conservatory of Music was opened in 1868, under the 
direction of L. H. Southard. It would be impossible to 
estimate the advantage and blessing this great donation has 
been to the people of the city. 

Under the title of The Maryland Institute of Mechanic 
Arts there have been two separate establishments. The 
first was started in 1825 and was ruined by the fire of 1835. 
Exhibitions of American manufactures were held there as 
well as lectures on mechanical subjects. The present insti- 



3 88 BALTIMORE. 

tute was organized in 1848 and incorporated a year later, 
and in '51 the first Exhibit was held in the new hall. 
There was likewise presented there a lecture course, while 
a School of Design and other features were added. One 
of these was the library. The Maryland Institute is situa- 
ated over Central Market on Baltimore Street. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



BALI [MORE MARKETS. 




(O write a chapter on the markets and food sup- 
ply of Baltimore, which some one has called 
the gastronomic centre of the universe, pn - 
sents one great difficulty at the very outset. 
One is puzzled to know where to begin. 
Suppose, like the boy who wishes to take a 
good long jump, we go backward for a pre- 
liminary run and discuss the history of the great sources 
of supply for those delicious staples which have made our 
market so famous. 

Naturally we begin with the oyster and find it impossible 
to speak of it without also paying considerable attention to 
the oysterman, and the history of his various troubles and 
triumphs. 

There have been disturbances among the oystermen and 
their foes ever since the oyster industry was instituted, and 
that is more than sixty years. In 1849, there was quite a 
serious battle when the encroaching dredgers robbed the 
ground they had no license to take oysters from, till the pa- 
tience of those who claimed proprietorship was exhausti d 



39° BALTIMORE. 

and they rose against the intruders. There was no oyster 
fleet at that day and the oystermen took matters resolutely 
into their own hands. They seized the steamer Osiris, 
armed her and attacked a lot of Philadelphia dredgers, driv- 
ing them fairly from the field. The strangers' boats were 
seized after hot fisditino- and their cargoes sold. Added to 
this about forty of the pirates were arrested. This affair 
was quoted as a precedent in subsequent troubles with ille- 
gal dredgers. 

The oyster dredgers, tongers, and all who make a living 
by capturing this most delicate shell-fish, are mightily inter- 
ested in the questions of boundaries and licenses. Under 
the regulations prescribed by the State, all oyster grounds 
lying adjacent to the shore of a county are appropriated to 
the people of that county, and these may enjoy a general 
right in them, but no stranger is allowed to come in. The 
State may and does grant licenses to strangers for grounds 
outside of county limits, but no one having such a license 
may overstep it and dredge on county grounds, nor can 
they procure any right so to encroach, though the county 
people can get licenses to dredge in State waters. Out of 
this law all the difficulty between the oystermen and the pi- 
rates grew, or perhaps it would be better to say that the 
natural property conditions which lay back of the law were 
responsible. 

In the oyster business, either in dredging, handling, can- 
ning or otherwise having to do with the bivalve, there are 
many thousand people employed in Maryland ; indeed it 
may not be too much to say that one hundred thousand of 
our population make their living in this way. Sometimes 
it is a very good living. There are handsome houses and 
handsome fortunes in Baltimore that are built on a good 
solid oyster foundation. But the rank and file do not find 




X 
•p 

5 

t. 

D 

rii 

c 

£ 
a. 



BALTIMORE MARKETS. 391 

fortunes in oyster-beds. The pearls are not for them. If 
they find enough to keep soul and body together they are 
esteemed fortunate. The ordinary tonger has no easy time 
of it. He is compelled to work in all sorts of weather, 
sometimes driven from his ground by storm, but only to re- 
turn as soon as possible, regardless of piercing cold and all 
manner of hardship. His quarters are narrow and comfort- 
less, his bed is of the hardest and his work exhausting, and 
for all this he may get fifteen dollars a month if he is lucky. 
The oyster dredgers are a class by themselves, these men 
who supply Baltimore market with the oyster of its pride. 

The process of dredging and bringing to market may 
not be familiar to all of my readers, so I will explain in a 
few words that the work is done while the vessels are under 
sail, the dredees beinof cast off astern and draowd till they 
are full. An oystennan generally carries a captain, mate 
and eight men. The rope that holds the dredge, after being 
fastened, has a buoy attached to it so that if any thing 
happens to the line it may not be lost. Then after choos- 
ing the ground the captain gives the command " Heave," 
and the "Teat cumbrous dredge with its iron teeth is cast 
astern. It drags after the boat, raking up shells, stones, 
oysters, in fact everything that comes in its way. At the 
word " Roll " the four men who are tending the dredge haul 
it in and the work of culling then begins, after which the 
oysters are transferred to market boats and taken to the city. 

At the best the work is not the pleasantest one might 
think of, and it becomes still less so when the men who are 
making their livelihood from it find that others who have 
no business there are robbing and impoverishing their 
grounds. They naturally object to having rival Long- 
Island o*yster-beds planted at their expense, or to have 
other men take their oysters to market. 



392 BALTIMORE. 

Out of such considerations grew the notorious oyster 
battles of 188S and 1889. The continued aggressions of 
the pirates finally had resulted in the production of an 
oyster navy in Chesapeake Bay, a navy which had proved 
itself very efficient on several occasions, but which was 
nevertheless sometimes open to criticism. General Bradley 
Johnson said of it, at this time : " It is proposed to invigo- 
rate it with uniforms and stiffen it with howitzers. It sails 
with sealed orders and goes on secret .missions. It is 
engaged in intimidating the wild fowl on Coan river with 
the latest improved arms, while the crew of the 'Groome' 
are crying for quarter on the little Choptank. The oyster 
navy has good men in it. Give Loker an order and he will 
execute it and so will most of the men on the force. . . . 

" . . . . The idea that a police force must equal in numbers 
the mob it is sent to suppress is ridiculous. Put Marshal 
lake Frey in charge of one hundred such police as he com- 
mands and he will charge and disperse a mob of ten thou- 
sand men, and capture the ringleaders. Does any one 
suppose that if one of his patrolmen had been caught by a 
gancr of roughs that Frey would not have pursued them to 
the confines of the continent to punish them ? Order 
General Steward Brown, or Colonel Charles D. Gaither, or 
Marshal Frey, or Major Frank Bond to protect the oyster 
fisheries and everybody knows that not a shot would be 
fired and the law would be respected." 

The matter referred to by General Johnson was the 
( apture of the police sloop, the " Groome," by the dredgers. 
On the Choptank river, early in November of '88, there had 
fc.ii several encounters between the latter and the police, 
(hie of these affairs was so sharp that the steamer "McLane " 
was telegraphed for. Then for several days the* dredgers 
worked unmolested. A large fleet of them being together 



BALTIMORE .MARKETS. 393 

till at noon of Wednesday, the twenty-first, the police sloop 
sailed towards them and tired at long range. The challenge 
was accepted and the "Groome" finally obliged to retreat. 
She was then put temporarily in command of Captain 
Bramble, at his own request, and attacked once more, this 
time successfully. The dredgers showed a white flag and 
capitulated. 

But about dusk, when Captain Bramble had left the sloop 
again and the men were below at their supper, it is said, a 
yawl boat came alongside with seven men in it, and suc- 
ceeded in surprising and capturing the crew of the police 
boat. The matter did not stop here. The dredgers of the 
attacking party were pretty well fitted and the)' fairly 
terrorized their prisoners, promising them that they should 
each one be " lashed to the boom " before morning. 

The sloop was robbed of arms and other property and 
then released. This was the affair to which the words 
already quoted referred. 

In a few days another atrocious act was committed by 
the emboldened dredgers. The steamer " Corsica," which 
belonged to the Chester River Steamboat Company, was 
coming out of Chester when a fleet of dredgers met and 
fired on her, peppering her hull with buckshot and frighten- 
ing her passengers. At the same time the dredgers uttered 
threats against the lives of several of the men who opposed 
them. 

The first decided victor)' over these marauders was made 
by Captain Howard, of the steamer "McLane." This vessel 
left Annapolis at four o'clock one winter afternoon, armed 
with a Dahlgren howitzer. She met a fleet of fifty of the 
predator)' dredgers together; there was no wind and they 
were drifting with the tide. These boats, although not 
actually dredging at the time, it is claimed, were ten or 



394 



BALTIMORE. 



twelve miles from the grounds where they might lawfully 
work and directly over beds of especial value. Captain 
Howard's order to surrender was answered with a defiance, 
and the next thing the dredq-ers knew the contents of the 
DahWen gun came hurtling among them. As it had be- 
come dark the gun was imperfectly trained and fired too 
high, cutting sails and rigging. The fleet pluckily responded 
with Winchesters and a hot firing was kept up for nearly 
three hours. No one can tell how many of the dredgers 
were wounded, but among those hurt on the police boat 
was Captain Howard, who was shot through the arm, just 
above the elbow. 

Finding it impossible to conquer the fleet in this way, 
the captain decided to run the vessels down. Turning the 
prow of the McLane against them at once, he succeeded 
in cutting down two of them and capturing the crews. A 
third boat surrendered and the others made good their 
escape. 

Naturally there was a good deal of criticism as well as 
praise over this affair. Some of those who were averse to 
extreme measures said that the thing was an outrage, that 
war was not necessary, that the matter could have been set- 
tled without a gun being fired, etc., etc. Perhaps so. It 
may easily be understood, however, that where one-sixth of 
a population is earning its livelihood by one industry, they 
are very apt to harbor angry feelings toward any one who 
interferes with them. 

The oyster at one time began to grow noticeably less in 
the waters of the Chesapeake. There were various causes 
for this ; reasons which it took long and close study to find 
out. Men of scientific training gave the food, habits and 
enemies of the oyster their careful study. The student of 
natural history, the fish commissioner and the practical 



BALTIMORE MARKETS. 395 

business man alike became interested to know what caused 
the falling off and how it could be checked. Of one thine 
all were certain ; the bivalve was sufficiently prolific to hold 
his own if given any sort of a chance. 

Then another discovery was made, that when an oys- 
ter is very young, a "spat" in fact, he (or it) is easily 
smothered or destroyed by getting in the mud or slime, 
while he will thrive and grow if he has good clean ground 
to fasten to. The next step was a very simple one. 
Observation revealed the fact that an old oyster-shell makes 
the cleanest and most desirable anchorage for the infant 
mollusk. 

" The cull law," as it is called, was recently passed in 
Maryland. It provides that all shells, as well as all young 
oysters below a certain size, shall be " culled," or separated 
from the rest of the catch and thrown overboard from the 
boats. A remarkable increase in the oyster yield has fol- 
lowed this common-sense application of a natural law. 

The scene in Lexington Market, particularly on Sat- 
urday night, is not only a sight for an epicure but for an 
artist. It is a blaze of light and color. A busy, happy 
sound of pleasant traffic pervades every part of this great 
food depot. One does not know whether to pay most 
attention to the buyers, or to the sellers, or to the gastro- 
nomic treasures with which the stalls and slabs are piled. 
Banked up from the ground, spread out on the dressers, or 
pendant from hooks is provision sufficient for an army. 
And an army is waiting for it ; with baskets and packages 
they carry it away, and yet the supply does not seem to di- 
minish. A great general has said that an army travels on 
that portion of its anatomy which the author of " The 
Night before Christinas" makes to rhyme with jelly. It is 
the same with the city. When you strike its market it 



396 BALTIMORE. 

begins to groan. The majority of my readers will remem- 
ber the siege of Paris and the consternation of the inhabi- 
tants when they found in their larder nothing but elephant 
steak or tioer cutlets. The consomme of seal is a dish which 
to most civilized people has a foreign taste, although we 
have had expert government cooks in that line. 

Every housekeeper knows that man is an animal that re- 
quires to be well fed to be kept in a good humor. It has 
passed into a proverb that if one wants to ask a favor of 
another he should "attack just after dinner. All of which 
goes to show that the story of the recollections of a man 
who has eaten three meals a day in Baltimore for half a 
century, would be incomplete without a record of the mar- 
kets. We have already looked at the oyster and have suc- 
ceeded in getting it fairly out of bed and where the caterer 
can reach it. But the oyster, although an important item 
in the food supply, is only the beginning of a long list. It 
takes nearly a hundred thousand dollars a day to pay Balti- 
more's market bill. We contemplate a myriad products of 
the waters, the fields, the gardens and the woods. We an- 
ticipate the luxury of dining upon the royal canvasback, 
the succulent terrapin, and the delicious shad, and all things 
which go to make an epicure's enjoyment. Entering one 
of the central aisles of the market, we find nothing but 
meat, fresh, firm, juicy beef and mutton, which with all their 
lesser cousins and relations tempt the healthy appetite of a 
well man. There is a story told of a wager which a man 
made with a friend that he would ask for anything he 
pleased at Delmonico's and have his order filled. The dish 
asked for was elephant steak, which was forthwith brought 
to him. I do not know that one could find elephant steak 
in Lexington Market, but if not, it is because the delicacy 
is not considered o-ood enough there ; but of hoofed kind 



BALTIMORE MARKETS. 397 

there is no lack, from the wildest of venison to Mary's little 
lamb. 

Every one knows how beautiful and attractive the colors 
and shapes of fish are. Here, where all is cool, clean and 
shady, we see them in their perfection. The silvery scales 
of the perch or the delicate blue of the mackerel that lie 
heaped together on the wet slabs, would satisfy the soul of 
a Flemish painter, and these are only the beginning of a 
bewildering profusion. 

Maryland ranks second among the States of the Union in 
the extent of her fisheries, Massachusetts taking the lead. 
The capital dependent upon this industry amounts to 
over six million dollars, and there is no other state that 
employs so many men in this field. 

The different fish caught should make one's mouth water 
simply to enumerate them. First of all is the shad, of which 
about four million pounds annual!}' go through the markets 
and the shipping houses of Baltimore. It is a royal fish, 
into whose bright shapely body there seems to be packed as 
much excellent flavor as ever swam in the sea. But the 
royal family of shad is even larger, it would seem, than the 
royal family of England, for in spite of the thousand nets 
spread for its unwary members every season and the tons of 
them that lie flapping in the market or are refrigerated 
for a distant journey, the number does not seem to dimin- 
ish. The Susquehanna river is still teeming with them in 
the early spring, just at the time when nature says to the 
system of man," You have had enough of beef and mutton, 
vary your diet a little, here is shad." 

And the mackerel and bass come in their season to dis- 
pute the allegiance of our palettes with king shad. We 
are ready to shout " The King is dead " — we know because 
we have eaten him — " Long live the King! " . Every angler 



39S BALTIMORE. 

will contend for the superiority of the bass, the sportsman's 
prize, over the shad, and show how a fish that is stupid 
enough to run his head into a net is not to be mentioned in 
the same day with the bright gamy fellow who makes a 
fight for his life at the end of a slender line. I shall not 
attempt to decide the question here. 

We turn to the perch and the sturgeon and find in each 
some peculiar excellence, but the speckled trout from some 
mountain brook entices us away. There is no question 
about his supremacy. If the title to the salt water throne 
is in dispute, that of the fresh water streams is not, and the 
brook trout seems to those that know all his excellence to 
be the last expression of beauty, grace, intelligence and 
flavor. 

The pike is here too ; that voracious, opened mouthed 
pirate of lake and river, with all his relations ; and while we 
ponder in surprise on the appetite that could develop such 
a mouth, the crab and his big cousin, the lobster, sidle up 
and bid for our admiration. They have it, and with it we 
give a good word to the oyster's pathetic brother, who be- 
ing dumb yet becomes eloquent in a chowder. 

But may our tongues too become dumb if we can forget 
our good " Brer Terrapin," who waves all his awkward legs 
at us in salutation. He has a way that some other homely 
folks have of finding out all the rare and good things of 
life and assimilating them. The combination is a morsel 
so delicious, so toothsome, so rememberable, that no word 
in the language can be found to express it, and we sum its 
excellence in the one word terrapin. 

From the fishy odors and wet slabs of this side of the 
market, one turns to the display of game that suggests 
visions of mountain, lake and river, of gun and dog. 

The wild duck is pre-eminently a Maryland product. 



BALTIMORE MARKETS. 

Our canvasback is as much finer than the canvasback 
from anywhere else, as the Chesapeake oyster is superior 
to any other shell-fish in the world. The reason for this 
superiority is undoubtedly in the food which abounds here, 
for it is noticed that the difference between the flavor of 
duck which have just arrived and those that have been 
feeding in our waters for a week or two is very marked. 
The favorite article of their diet is wild celery, which grows 
in such abundance in the Chesapeake and its tributary 
waters. 

The game laws which protect the ducks are very 
stringent. The Maryland State law prohibits the shooting 
of ducks in flocks upon their roosting or feeding ground, or 
elsi-where, from a boat of any kind, an exception being 
made in favor of citizens of the counties bordering on the 
waters where the ducks are. These can shoot, while the 
flocks are flying, from any boat except a sneak boat or sink 
boat. Nor can they shoot from a^blind or artificial point 
more than a hundred yards from shore. No one, accord- 
ing to this State law, can shoot over Chesapeake waters 
with any kind of a gun except one which can be con- 
veniently carried upon the shoulder. The police, whose 
duty it is to see that the game laws are enforced, consist of 
two citizens from Harford and two from Cecil counties, 
who are appointed by the governor. Besides the State 
law there are county laws which are very strictly attended 
to. Woodcock, partridges, rabbits, pheasants, and other 
game, are also protected by law in the counties which they 
frequent. 

Stepping aside from the sections where fish and flesh are 
sold, one comes into an entirely different scene. Vegeta- 
bles of all kinds, and fruit of almost infinite variety have 
their appointed places. Still further on we seem to have 



4 oo BALTIMORE. 

gone beyond the domain of the caterer, and the market 
becomes a flower garden, full of blossom and sweet- 
ness. 

The markets of Baltimore date back to the middle of the 
last century, when a market-house was built under a public 
hall on the corner of Gay and Baltimore Streets. Nearly a 
generation later this old market-house and ground was sold, 
and the proceeds appropriated to the building of new mar- 
kets. One of these was the Marsh or Centre Market, and 
the other was the Hanover Market, which came a few years 
later. Then the Fell's Point Market, which may have been 
completed before either of the others, was legalized by an 
act of the city authorities. The ground for this market 
was left to the inhabitants of that part of Baltimore by 
Edward Fell. Lexington Market, which we have already 
dwelt upon at length as being the best of these establish- 
ments in the city, was laid out in 1782 by Colonel Howard 
on his own land, but it was not until some years later that 
the market-house was built. Funds were raised for the 
erection of the market, which only extended then from 
Eutaw to Paca Streets. In 1826 additions and improve- 
ments were made, and among these provision for a place 
to sell fish. In 1S55 the part of the market between Paca 
and Green Streets was rebuilt, and the following year the 
structure was ready for use. Lexington Market suffered 
somewhat during the Civil War, and was rebuilt after that 
event. 

At the corner of Light and Cross Streets in 1S45 and '46 
Federal Hill Market was instituted. Between this and the 
Cross Street Market Hall, a new market called the Cross 
Street Market House was built at a cost of thirty-one thou- 
sand dollars. The Belair Market House stands on the site 
of an earlier building of the same title, which was wrecked 



BALTIMORE MARKETS. 401 

in a wind storm in 1S71. This extends from Hillen to 
Orleans Streets. 

Richmond Market is on Richmond and Cathedral 
Streets, and from Howard to Tyson, extending- under the 
Fifth Regiment Armory. The Canton Market was erected 
in 1S59 on O'Donnel and Potomac Streets, and Broadway 
Market in 1864, on the vacant space of ground on Broad- 
way, between Canton Avenue and Aliceanna Street. Be- 
sides, there are Hollins and Canton Markets, and these 
eleven together combine to furnish to our city market facil- 
ities equal to those of any in the world. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



THE HARBOR OF BALTIMORE. 




N connection with the work of the depart- 
ment with which so much of my life has 
been passed, there is one feature which is of 
more than ordinary interest, since it pro- 
duces a marked effect upon the safety of 
property and life. I refer to the patrol 
\ which is kept up in the harbor by the police 

boat, " Lannan." 
The hourly rounds of the patrol-boat during the day and 
night are full of interest, both for the news they present of 
the water life and industries of Baltimore and also for the 
panorama of historic localities that is unfolded. 

Vessels of all nationalities, loading and unloading, sug- 
gest the validity of the claim made so often that Baltimore 
is the natural gate of commerce for the North American 
continent. Its advantages, given by nature and improved 
by the art of man, are almost unexcelled in the world. It 
seems difficult to believe, as one looks at the busy scene 
and considers how easy of access this port is, both from the 
landward and the seaward sides, that it can fail to fulfill its 



THE HARBOR OF BALTIMORE. 403 

promise, and become the most important depot of com- 
merce in the United States. 

The great lack, here as elsewhere, is that of strictly 
American shipping. Comparing the ship-building of Balti- 
more with the activity of the same industry twenty-five or 
thirty years ago, it is evident that there is less, much less 
being done to-day, the size of the place being compared 
with what it then was. As is well known, this is a very old 
story now to Americans, and is not confined to Haiti- 
more. From Maine to the Gulf the inactivity of Ameri- 
can ship-yards, and the absence of the American flag, 
from home as well as foreign waters, is noticed and de- 
plored. 

Yet the builders of our city are not entirely idle. The 
past two or three years have seen the launching' of some 
of the vessels of the White Squadron, of which the nation 
is so proud. 

With Bath, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Norfolk and other 
points where naval construction is pursued, Baltimore has 
held her own. The yards of the Columbian Iron Works 
have resounded to the blows of metal upon metal and the 
sonorous clang of armor plates. Here several of the new 
cruisers have been built. The range from the little gun- 
boat " Petrel," which has been called the " Midget of the 
Navy," to the beautiful and important warship, the " Balti- 
more," is a wide one, and yet it was with no small interest 
that thousands of people gathered one bright October day 
two years ago to see the shapely model, the smallest of our 
steel fleet, glide from the stocks. 

Commodore Schley was present among the distinguished 
guests, and to his daughter was permitted the honor of 
christening the little beauty. Steamboats, tugs, and, 
indeed, craft of every description, filled the Patapsco, and 



4 o4 BALTIMORE. 

an expectant crowd hung on the wharves and thronged 
every point of vantage. 

The " Petrel's " displacement is only one-fifth that of 
the " Baltimore," which latter vessel is the especial pride of 
her namesake city. The service of plate, which was pre- 
sented by the city to the warship, was a beautiful and costly 
affair, that has not been excelled by similar offerings in 
New York or elsewhere. It was received while the vessel 
was on the Pacific coast, and drew forth warm expressions 
of appreciation and esteem from the officers in command 
of her. 

In distinct and almost absurd contrast to these engines 
of a nation's power and pride is a class of humble but use- 
ful craft, whose sails whiten the waters of the bay during 
the "R" months of the year, or whose dismantled spars 
are huddled together like a little forest of leafless pines for 
the remainder of the twelvemonth. I refer to the oyster 
fleet. Perhaps, after all, although the reader may smile at 
the transition from war vessels to oyster sloops, there is a 
point of similarity. Far asunder as they are in size, capac- 
ity and equipment, there is more than a suspicion that an 
equally warlike spirit animates the movements of each. 
The oyster navy has its story of battles and marine encoun- 
ters, elsewhere chronicled, that have a romantic, if not a 
historic interest. 

Between the great steel ships whose shells are loaded 
with the latest invention in smokeless powder, and the little 
wooden ones that are freighted with the harmless, non- 
explosive bivalve, there is a full fleet of various patterns 
and purposes, coming and going from all over the world. 

There are some swift-sailing vessels, with hulls not 
unlike those of the old clipper ships in their lines, still try- 
ing to compete with steam for the pineapple trade of the 



THE HARBOR OF BALTIMORE. 405 

West Indies. But the last fifteen years has so revolution- 
ized the fruit trade that the engine has very largely taken 
the place ot canvas for this purpose. A few days of calm 
weather, through which a steamer goes with even acceler- 
ated speed, is ruin to the cargo of a sailing fruiter, and, as 
a consequence, the bananas-, pines, grape-fruit, and other 
hot-country products which add so greatly to our markets, 
are to-day almost entirely carried in specially-built steam- 
ers. 

Passing some large buildings and wharves almost oppo- 
site the point of embarkation, an unpleasant but suggestive 
odor assails the nose. Our harbor is not one of bad 
smells, and the perfume (?) of the phosphate, of which 
these structures are, perhaps, the largest depots in the 
country, is the most unpleasant that we have to encounter. 
Its presence brings to mind the excitement that was roused 
not very long ago, over the revolt that occurred at Navassa 
Island, in the West Indies, This rock, for it is nothing 
more, lies between Haiti and Jamaica, about midway. It 
was first claimed by the government of the former country, 
who failed, in the presence of the Baltimore company that 
had taken possession of it. to make its claim good. An 
act of Congress, passed in 1S56, authorized the president, at 
his discretion, to employ the army and navy of the United 
States to protect American citizens in the discovery and 
possession of guano islands not before claimed by other 
people or nations. That was about the language of 
the act. Its purpose was to prevent interlopers from inter- 
fering with or removing guano discovered or claimed by 
Americans. It enabled the company which had got hold 
of Navassa, which was the richest of the guano islands, 
to successfully resist the claim to ownership put forward 
by the Black Republic. 



406 BALTIMORE. 

Some years ago, upon that treeless, uninteresting, iso- 
lated rock, a party of Baltimore gentlemen, with a large 
number of laborers, many of them under contract from the 
Baltimore city jail, were the heroes of an adventure of a 
somewhat unusual character. The governor of the island 

at that time was a Doctor D , a man of good family in 

Baltimore. With him were several fellow-citizens of like 
character. Their life was as far removed from that of 
ordinary people as anything that could be imagined, for 
they spent two years without society other than that 
afforded by each other, without anything of interest except 
the daily routine of duty, without seeing a woman from one 
years' end to the next, or hearing any news of the outside 
world, except when their boat boarded the Pacific Mail 
steamer that passed within five miles of their station, or a 
guano vessel came in for a load of the phosphate. Muti- 
nies were not unknown. On one occasion the "store- 
keeper," the accountant of the party, cowed eight rebel- 
lious negroes with his revolver, while he compelled them 
to proceed to the point where he expected to intercept 
the steamer then due. 

One day, while sitting in the shadow of their house and 
talking of Baltimore happenings, as revealed by the lately 
received home letters, one of the party sprang to his feet 
and pointed to the appearance of a gathering storm to the 
southward. 

At first his companions laughed at his excited manner, 
but he soon convinced them that what he announced would 
be no jest. In alarm they began to secure what they 
could, but before much could be done the storm was upon 
them. At first the stoutly-constructed buildings seemed in 
danger, but after a very heavy blow there came an interval 
of quiet, at which the inexperienced were willing to rest 



THE HARBOR OF BALTIMORE. 407 

and congratulate themselves on their escape. But not so 
with the storekeeper. " We must save what we can," he 
said, " for the heaviest blow always succeeds a lull." 

So they rushed about, hiding whatever they could in 
holes and sheltered places, the great oven where the cook- 
ing was done for the little army of men employed on the 
island being found the most convenient receptacle. Hardly 
had the most necessary supplies been stowed away when 
the wind commenced to blow again, and with rapidly 
increasing violence. Crouched in the lee of the o;overnor's 
house the watchers saw the long barracks at a distance 
shake and then lift slightly. A second and a third time 
this was repeated, and then the wind got under the building 
and it was overturned and swept away like a card house. 
There was a scrambling scattering flight of black forms, 
the men making for the pits, which many of them never 
reached alive. Near the landing on the windward side of 
the island a train of three or four loaded platform cars 
stood ready to be discharged. These the wind blew up 
the grade to the opposite side of the island and dumped 
into the sea. 

Then the governor's house began to move. "Run " was 
the cry ; and there was a general stampede for the guano 
pits. One of the party had a rib broken, but thought him- 
self fortunate to escape with his life. He found the hole 
he had taken to already occupied by a negro. He was tall 
and the black man short, so that when the flood of rain 
which followed the wind began to fill the pits the latter was 
obliged to climb out to escape drowning. He was never 
heard from again. 

When the hurricane had done its full work a disheartened 
little party were left to contemplate the ruins. There was 
not among the survivors enouq-h clothing to make one 



4 oS BALTIMORE. 

decent suit. Fortunately a boat had hung protected in the 
lee of the island, and the oven contained food enough for 
a little while, but that was all. When the losses came to 
be counted the list was appalling. Forty or more of the 
men were dead or missing, the shelters and tools gone, and 
only a barren rock in a tropical sea left to them. When 
the next Pacific Mail passed the storekeeper boarded her, 
in a nondescript costume made of contributed shreds and 
patches from the others, it is said. 

The last trouble in the phosphate fields was recent and of 
an ominous character, being nothing less than a bloody re- 
volt on the part of the men employed by the company. 

We have got far enough away from the harbor of Balti- 
more, but that whiff of the unsavory stuff suggested the dis- 
tant islands, between which and this port a few old and well- 
tried vessels form the connecting link. 

Beyond the barge line of the B. & O. Railroad, where 
the cars are ferried from the company's extensive yards to 
Canton, the oreen enclosure and armed earthworks of 
Fort McHenry suggest less peaceful scenes and the pre- 
cautions of more unquiet times. The land on which it 
stands is the extremity of what was known as Whetstone 
Point; so named by Mr. Carroll, who got it from the 
Quaker, Charles Gorsuch, in i 702. Whetstone Point was 
made a town in 1706 by an act of Assembly and at the 
same time was declared a port of entry. Cole's Harbor, in- 
cluding what is now known as the Basin and the City Dock 
—indeed all the upper part of the northwest branch of 
the present harbor — was the port of the little town which 
was springing up about it. For a long while this water 
facility was ample for the needs of the place. Cole's 
Harbor was also the name of the town which gradually 
extended and joined itself to other little towns like Whet- 



THE HARBOR OF BALTIMORE. 409 

stone Point, and so the nucleus of Baltimore town was 
formed. 

The history of Fort McHenry is familiar to all Balti- 
moreans. Its celebrity during the war of 181 2 and its asso- 
ciation with the names of men whose fame is indissolubly 
connected with the story and the pride of the city, will al- 
ways make the pleasant, verdant slope a thing of beauty to 
our eyes. And, indeed, to the eye of a stranger, that sug- 
gestion of war in the midst of peace, of protection to the 
trade and commerce that surround it, cannot but awaken 
interest, while its intrinsic charm is but heightened by the 
recollection of later events of which it has been the scene. 

During the civil war, McHenry, strongly garrisoned by 
the Federal government, became by turns a resting-place 
for troops and a prison for many men who in the hot preju- 
dice of war time were misunderstood or made themselves 
obnoxious to those in authority by rash utterances. More 
than one of the men whom the city delighted to honor 
found it necessary to spend a period of rest in the old fort. 

No one of course looks at Fort McHenry without think- 
ing of Francis Scott Key and the " Star Spangled Banner," 
to which reference has already been made in these pages. 
That never-dying song was enough alone to immortalize 
any locality, and sang its way into history as rapidly and as 
surely as the French national air, when Roget de Isle first 
poured it into the ears of his enthusiastic compatriots. 

From nowhere else can such a broad general idea of Bal- 
timore's size and growth be obtained as from the harbor. 
Vista after vista opens to the eye. Past the lines of 
wharves, of lighters and elevators, of steam-craft and sails* 
rise the structures that proclaim the wealth and taste of a 
great city. Public buildings, private edifices, churches and 
halls and monuments rise in tiers and ranks upon the many 



410 BALTIMORE. 

hills on which the city is built. It is an inspiring sight, 
and becomes still more so if one takes one of the old time 
maps of Baltimore town and compares the meagre array of 
buildings and the narrow bounds of that little place with 
the dignity and distinction of the city that we live in. 

To return to the patrol boat, which has lingered while we 
have digressed ; — the duties which claim the activity of its 
crew are many and require both quickness and nerve in 
their performance. Many are the lives which are annually 
saved by these men, who are ready to plunge, at a second's 
notice, into the water to the rescue of any one who is 
strusfeflinsf there. 

Not very long ago a son was restored to his mother, only 
however, to die of exhaustion and lung difficulty on the day 
following his rescue. Sometimes a suicide, impelled by the 
madness which leads men to end their own existence, is 
arrested before his purpose is quite accomplished. There 
are fewer successful attempts in this direction than for- 
merly. Before the "Lannan"was put on there was no 
adequate way of stopping them. 

Queer things sometimes occur, which are both tragic and 
comic, over which your smile is apt to end in a sigh or 
your compassion is appreciation of the humorous side. 
This is in fact so often the case that those who are thrown 
officially in contact with human misery grow callous to it, 
very often in appearance if not in fact. 

I recollect a case of self-destruction that occurred in 
1883. A stranger, plunging from a ferry-boat at the foot 
of Broadway, was drowned. He left behind him a number 
of papers which not only showed clearly how much a matter 
of intention his death had been, but also how deep a melan- 
choly led to it ; and yet the half-dramatic, half-sentimental 
way in which he expressed what was undoubtedly a very 



THE HARBOR OF BALTIMORE. 411 

serious chain of thought to himself, cannot but make the 
reader feel a pitying amusement over such an exhibition of 
self-conscious posing. 

Among his papers was this effusion : 

"THE SUICIDE. 

"On this beauteous morn, with its clear and azure sky; 
I have sought this quiet spot, on the cold earth here to die. 
My soul is filled with sorrow, misgivings, and with grief, 
And nothing but that mystery (Death), can give it peace, relief. 

" O God : look down in mercy, watch over those at home ; 
Be with them in life's ups and downs, as through this world they roam : 
And when at last their time shall come, when they lie down to die, 
Sustain them then, and take them up, to the better world on high. 

"Farewell, friends of my youthful hours! 
Farewell, ye shady woodland bowers, 
Farewell, sweet meadows, I love thee well ! 
Farewell, fore'er farewell. 

" Farewell, thou land that gave me birth : 
Farewell, beloved spot of earth ; 
Farewell, little streams that onward swell; 
Farewell, fore'er farewell. 

" Farewell, thou cold unfriendly world, 
Farewell, misfortunes at me hurled, 
Farewell, O life to me a hell, 

Farewell! Farewell! Farewell!" 

This poetry was written in pen-drawn, old English type 
letters, and many of the caps at the beginning of the lines 
are fancy initials. Below was the following, in prose: 

"As the leaves quiver and fall before the autumnal blast, I have come 
among them, a solemn witness of the end of their summer beauty and ver- 
dure, where, in happier days gone by I was ever wont to linger. I have 
come to die the death of a suicide. 



412 . BALTIMORE. 

"O life, 'tis hard to give thee up, but 'tis my fate. Ever through life I 
strive to battle against my misfortunes. The path I first trod had thorns 
here and there scattered along ; but I thought that by honesty and care- 
fulness I would be able to uproot them and behold a brighter and clearer 
road beyond. My thoughts of that brighter future have all sunk to the 
darkest depths of obscurity. The thorns that first bedecked it have grown 
thicker and thicker, until now they completely shut out from me all hopes 
of any brighter future in this world. 

" I pray God's forgiveness for all my wrong acts in' the past and for this, 
my last, in this dark drama of life. The world may look upon the suicide 
as insane ; some may be, but I am just as sane, my mind is just as clear, 
and my hand and nerves as steady as the most happy and composed. 

"Good-bye, wishing. you all a long and happy life and a better share of 
this world's goods than u has been my fate to have, I remain 

" Yours, etc., etc." 

The name of the young man who wrote the foregoing, I, 
of course, do not think it necessary to give. He was 
known to rather a large circle and well thought of. 

The greatest number of lives saved by the crew of the 
" Lannan " are, perhaps, those of the people who fall or 
plunge in, or are thrown from the excursion boats that 
often come in durine the summer eveninos. As soon as 
one of these comes in sight, the prow of the patrol is 
turned towards her, and this faithful, silent little attend- 
ant sticks close to the bigger vessel till her last passenger 
is safe on shore. 

A chapter on the harbor would not be complete without 
a mention of the new fire-boat " Cataract," which by many 
people is regarded as the best boat engaged in similar 
service in the United States. Whether this praise is just I 
cannot say. The responsibility for the statement rests with 
the magazine called Fire and Water, which is published in 
New York and has, I believe, a recognized standing. The 
hull of the " Cataract" is of white oak, hackmatack and yellow 
pine. She is strongly built, as the service demands, and is 



THE HARBOR OF BALTIMORE. 413 

fitted with Manning vertical duplex double-acting- fire 
pumps, which are capable of working continuously with 
steam at 160 pounds pressure up to 220 revolutions per 
minute against a water pressure of 160 pounds. E. J. Codd 
& Co., of Baltimore, were the contractors for the fire-boat. 
Brusstar Bros, built the hull. Thus. Manning (of Cleve- 
land, Ohio) furnished the pumps and the Cowles Engineer, 
ing Co., of Baltimore, constructed the water tube boilers. 
Altogether the craft is a credit to the city whose harbor and 
shipping she is designed to protect. 

On the south side of the Patapsco is situated one of the 
great industries of Baltimore. It is a type of a class of 
works that has been alluded to as making the harbor odorous 
in certain localities, the phosphate or guano factories. The 
unsavory product occupies buildings that cover an area of 
many acres and comprise storehouses, sheds, wharves and 
machinery buildings. Everything that goes into the caul- 
drons has apparently arrived at the last stage ol decomposi- 
tion, and is one of the components of a witches' broth that 
people of weak nerves could not oversee the brewing of. 
With the lumps of phosphate go in the most repulsive 
mass of old fish and other material, a by no means invit- 
ing chowder; but the result is a product that is annually 
worth a great deal of money to Baltimore men and is one 
of the important items of her trade. 

The situation of the harbor of Baltimore at the head of 
tide-water on the Patapsco gives to the port an advantage 
which has been already noted. The calm of a sheltered 
basin that yet is amply connected with the ocean and has 
room for all possible contingencies, is a benefit which few 
great sea-ports share. 

In order to make the harbor of Baltimore perfectly 
adequate to the needs of her shipping, one of the first 



414 BALTIMORE. 

dredging machines ever made was employed here more than 
half a century ago at a cost of $70,000. The Board of Port 
Wardens of that day were fully alive to the importance of 
keeping every advantage which nature had given in the 
position of the basin. 

But between those days, when a vessel of more than 
seventeen feet draught was a leviathan, and this day of deep 
iron hulls, there is such a difference that the old Port War- 
dens of fifty years ago would probably stare if they could 
observe the changed conditions under which we work now. 

The first harbor dredging was not so much to deepen as 
to keep clean from the wash of the city the waters around 
the wharves. In 1852, however, .the first effort was made 
to deepen the waters of the Patapsco, between Fort Carroll 
and Swan Point. This work was undertaken by the city 
and State jointly, and has continued with slight interruptions 
to the present time. Our ship channels, six hundred feet 
wide, now constitute a system that is unexcelled. There is 
a mean depth of twenty-seven feet at low water below Locust 
Point, and above that, around the wharves, from nineteen 
to twenty-four feet. Colonel Craighill, United States Army, 
has charge of the engineering work done in the harbor. 

The harbor of Baltimore within the city limits has a wat- 
er-front, measured on the Port Warden line, of 13 miles; 
6}i of this being on the northwest branch of main harbor 
and 5^ on the main and middle branches, known commonly 
as Spring Gardens. The water area on the northwest 
branch is 630 acres, and on the main and middle branches 
1,300 acres in extent. There is abundant wharf room for 
ordinary vessels, in addition to which there are greater fa- 
cilities, deeper anchorage, etc., for larger vessels at several 
points in the harbor. 

Locust Point, where the Baltimore & Ohio Q-rain eleva- 



THE HARBOR OF BALTIMORE. 4 i5 

tors, etc., are, and Canton, the Northern Central terminal 
point on the opposite side, are both within the main harbor 
and are accessible by means of the surface lines which con- 
nect them with the city. They are within the Lazaretto, 
where the light-house bearing that name stands against its 
background of roofs and chimneys. 

More interesting perhaps than any locality except those 
just mentioned is Sparrow's Point, where the great ship- 
yards of the Maryland Steel Co. are located. This is a 
tract of about 1,000 acres, situated on the north shore of 
the Patapsco about nine miles from the city It was pur- 
chased prior to 1887 and in May of that year the work upon 
what is known as the "Maryland Extension" commenced. 
The Baltimore & Sparrow's Point Railroad, built and oper- 
ated in the interest of the Maryland Steel Co., gives ample 
railroad facilities by connection with the principal trunk 
lines. Leaving Baltimore by the Northern Central Rail- 
way, the Baltimore & Sparrow's Point Railroad is reached 
at Colgate creek, passing by direct line to Bear creek, 
crossing which, on a trestle bridge, 3,405 feet long, it enters 
the property of the Maryland Steel Co. 

Elsewhere, in speaking of the industrial interests of Bal- 
timore, I have touched upon this magnificent plant and will 
not repeat the figures there given. 

The shipyard is a special feature of the works and the 
first work undertaken there was the construction of the large 
steel tugs designed for sea-going service. 

In connection with the Steelton branch there has grown 
up a separate and thriving little town, whose population 
already reaches probably ten thousand people. With 
churches, schools and other agencies at work, this little cen- 
tre will be increasingly a factor in our advance. 

One of the most important launches from the Sparrow's 



416 BALTIMORE. 

Point works took place early in October, 1892. It was 
then that thousands of expectant spectators witnessed the 
first public event of that kind which had taken place there. 
The vessel was the bay line propeller " Alabama," designed 
to be the flag-ship of the company's Meet of steamers. 

Visitors from the city were taken to the works on the 
Bay Line steamer " Caroline," and were shown through 
the works. The " Alabama " is a steel steamer throughout. 
She has four decks, after the fashion of river and sound or 
bay boats elsewhere, but in her construction the same care, 
material and workmanship was used as would be bestowed 
upon an ocean-going steamer. 

In speaking of the Maryland Steel Works it may not be 
out of place to state in this connection that a vast amount 
of the ore used is brought, not from the mines of our own 
inland country, but from points which can only be reached 
by vessel. The company is largely interested in the famous 
and extensive Juragua mines of Cuba, and from this source 
is supplied most of the iron for its blast furnaces. It was 
due partly to the fact that so much of the raw material 
used must be brought by water, that the plant was finally 
established where it is. The site was carefully studied by 
experts and business men, was compared with other eligible 
places, and when these great works were finally established 
at Sparrow's Point, it was without the solicitation of the 
people of Baltimore. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 




INDUSTRIAL BALTIMORE. 

N 1870 the number of manufacturing estab- 
lishments in the city, even if we include 
plaster moulders, candy makers, and 
others of less importance than these, 
was 2,261. The number of hands then 
employed by all of the makers of all 
products was a little less than three 
thousand, while the aggregate value of 
their products was $51,106,278. 

Domestic cotton manufacturing was at that time very 
small, there being only one establishment of tin- kind, and 
only two hands employed there. The annual product was 
valued at $1,500. There were two mills where cotton duck 
was made, and these gave work to 521 hands. The esti- 
mated value of these establishments was a iittle over a 
million and a quarter dollars. 

The value of Baltimore's sugar refineries in 1S70 was 
$6,832,462. There were four of these, which gave work to 
434 people. Then, as now, clothing manufacturing and 
tailoring was an important item in the budget of industries, 



r. \i riMORE, 

next to sugar refining on the list. There were - 1 i 
ol these establishments, with $5.3571871 invested capital, and 
about 6,5< 10 employees. 

fhe wool mills at that time received a million and .1 lull 
pounds of wool in .1 \ ear. More than lull ol this consump- 
tion was of foreign wool, or, 10 speak accurately, for the 
yeai 1869 we used 813,275 pounds ol foreign wool to 
1 pounds ol domestic. 

Our trade had revived again after the war. It was only 
mall .is compared with that oi to-day. With trade our 
manufactures also sprang up, and it is interesting to notice 
how the same conservatism which has made our hanks 
more secure than those ol any other city in the United 
States, and our financial wrecks less frequent and severe, has 
also set its stamp upon the productive interests of the city. 

We ask in regard to a nun " Who is he? What is he 
worth? What can he do?" There is a personality, .in 
individuality about a city which leads us to the same 
thought. rhere is .\n analogy between the two. The 
questions of character, wealth .\wd productivity arc worth a 
thought, rhe last, which this chapter considers, no Balti- 
niorean is ashamed to answer. \\ e are among the very 
first of American manufacturing cities to-day. and this in 
direct opposition to the generally received idea that a man- 
ufacturing city, like a manufacturing man. is solely or 
mainly a money-getting one. To-day. in spite ol her 
enormous plants and millions ol invested capital and the 
vast output oi the products of her mills ami factories, those 
who are not directly interested in such nutters are surprised 
to hear our city spoken of as an important manufacturing 
one. 1'hey are apt to express their surprise in this 
w ay — 

■■ Win. Baltimore is alwavs mentioned as a great intel- 



[NDI .1 RIAL BALI IMORE. 419 

lee tual centre ; a place where art, and especially music, is 
( lierished ; \\ here 1 ulture lias its home." 

Thai is all true, and yet Baltimore is also a place ol 
rolling-mills, spindles, looms, and all the various "II ipriny 
<j| applied power. Her heart-beats are the heavy throb ol 
engines and her pulse is watched in all the markets "I tin 

U (H Id. 

One ol the most striking things is the varied character "I 
her produi ts. We may glam e al the more important one i 
only in 1 he spa* e ol this 1 hapter. 

The world is using an immense amount ol cotton duck 
for various purposes. Ii has superseded hemp in the ;ail 
ul vessels, and from thai u ;e to the covering ol fire hose or 
the dre is trou iers of holiday sold id's and sailoi i il has been 
applied. 

I'he enormous con umption which arisi i from this very 
general use throughout all the world is more than half of 
ii supplied by our factories. Instead ol the two mills with 
employment for five hundred and twenty-one operativi 
in [870, we now have over twenty dm I. mills in and around 
Baltimore, with as many thousands ol people employed a 
there were formerly hundreds. I he pay roll of the • fai 
tories rea< hi s the enormous figure of a million and a hall 
dollars or more, I hey use eighty thousand bales ol 1 otton 
annually. 

The world's market for American cotton exhausts seven 
.ind a half million bales annually. Eighty thousand bales 
ol that supply goes to our duck mills to feed their one 
hundred and twenty-five looms. Instead ol the six 
or seven thousand employees of the clothing < itablish- 
ments of twenty-two yeai ago, there are now at lea 1 
double that number, their wages aggn gating three million, 
of dollars. Over fourteen millions worth ul goods were 



420 BALTIMORE. 

produced in 1890. The capital invested in this business 
alone amounts to several millions of dollars, while the busi- 
ness done on that capital is many times greater. Nowhere 
else in the United States is so large an output in this line 
of business, and this is because there are here facilities for 
producing at a lower figure than elsewhere. 

The investment of over seventy-eight millions in manu- 
factures, and a varied product valued at twenty-five mill- 
ions, was what the census returns of 1890 gave as the 
industrial status of that year. In these figures we find an 
increase of nearly one hundred per cent, in ten years. 

In the southern and southwestern and eastern parts of 
the city are situated the brickyards, where are produced 
bricks that are worth ten dollars a thousand more than sim- 
ilar grades of New York, Philadelphia or Chicago bricks. 
Carroll's Field was the site of the first brickyards, way 
back in the early history of brickmaking in this country. 
From here they have grown and spread, covering acre after 
acre, mile after mile, till now they are only equalled in 
extent and capacity by those of the three cities just named. 
Everything, from kiln to buff press bricks, is made, and 
the establishments are paying investments to the compa- 
nies that own them. 

Copper rolling-mills, producing annually thirty thousand 
pounds of copper, besides other products, employ five hun- 
dred or more men and have exported six million dollars 
worth of copper in a single year. Nowhere else in the 
United States can these figures be surpassed or even 
equalled, for the great rolling-mill here is the largest in the 
country. 

So, too, with iron and steel. The Pennsylvania Steel 

- Works have established here a plant upon which five millions 

of dollars have already been expended, and an equal sum, it 



INDUSTRIAL BALTIMORE. 4-' 

is said, will follow. These works will be the largest in the 
world, indeed, are already so, and are destined to run four 
furnaces, which will have a capacity of six hundred thou- 
sand tons of Bessemer iron a year. Four of these great 
furnaces have been completed and a rail-mill has also been 
added, the latter to turn out one thousand tons of steel 
rails a day. The ship-building" yard, for the construction 
of iron and steel vessels, helps to swell the enormous ag- 
gregate of invested capital and wages. Already several 
thousand skilled mechanics are employed, and this force 
will be rapidly added to as the proposed addition to the 
plant is completed. 

Of bar iron and steel Baltimore's output for '91 was val- 
ued at a million dollars. This amount is already increasing 
and will increase in all human probability for years to come. 

Our trade in tobacco, largely with Holland and other 
foreign countries, attests the activity of the factories that 
handle this staple. Nearly eleven million pounds of smok- 
ing tobacco and snuff (enough one would suppose, to give 
the world such a violent fit of sneezing that it would jump 
the track and get out of its orbit) and nineteen millions 
dollars worth of cigars are produced and sold every year. 
The total output has reached something more than fifteen 
millions pounds annually, which is an increase of five hun- 
dred per cent, in a decade. 

I hardly know where to begin to curtail the list of Balti- 
more's industries. The factories make less smoke perhaps 
in the eyes and dwelling-places of her citizens than those of 
Chicago or Pittsburg, but they are alwavs in evidence. A 
large and increasing population is winning its bread at her 
looms and mills, while those who study the situation most 
carefully are satisfied that the prosperous present promises 
a bigger future. 



422 BALTIMORE. 

Tanned leather, shoes and manufactured leather eoods 
are the basis of a very large trade. It is safe to say that 
the combined values of these products reach twenty-five 
millions dollars a year. Our factories are making more 
shoes than those of almost any other city in the United 
States, and perhaps fewer of a poor grade. 

Brass, hardware, pianos, furniture and straw goods all 
come in, with many more, for mention, but I must leave 
the account of them with the statisticians, whose work I 
have necessarily followed thus far in this chapter. There 
are wooden-ware, china-ware, glassware and all the other 
wares known to commerce ; various kinds of manufactured 
food products, with millions of dollars worth of confection- 
ery and sweets and other millions worth of patent medicines 
to repair the ravages the first have caused. 

In making mention of the harbor, in another chapter, 
I have referred to ship-building here. Twenty vessels 
were launched in 1891 and the early part of '92, the gross 
tonnage amounting to something over eight thousand ; since 
then others have been added to the list, the tonnage and 
value showing a gratifying increase. Among the impor- 
tant launches, the United States cruisers " Montgomery" 
and " Detroit" head the list, each of two thousand tons and 
costing together a million and a quarter dollars. 

The opening of the marine department of the Maryland 
Steel Company's works at Sparrow's Point has increased 
the activity of this industry. Two forty thousand dollar 
steam tugs and several passenger steamers have been con- 
structed on their contracts. 

As one writer on the commerce and manufactures of 
Baltimore says : " All the natural advantages are with Bal- 
timore." We have better water power than most cities 
and as good as any in the country. There are the tribu- 



INDUSTRIAL BALTIMORE. 423 

taries of the Patapsco in our neighborhood, (at present for 
the most part unemployed), the Patapsco itself, besides the 
Gunpowder, Jones and Gwinn's Falls and various smaller 
streams. Indeed there seems to be no reason why by the 
storage and transmission of the Patuxent and other waters 
we should not be in possession of an almost limitless power. 
Mr. Scharf suggests in a comprehensive treatise on Balti- 
more, that " the canal which runs along the Maryland side 
of the Potomac river, from the falls to Georgetown, serves 
as a great race which can at any moment be tapped at al- 
most any point for a distance of twenty miles and is capa- 
ble of furnishing abundance of power to countless mills, for 
the erection of which, between the canal and the river there 
is abundant space. Could this be converted into a vast 
manufacturing region," continues this author, " it would 
not only contribute directly to the wealth of the State by 
the large rent which would be paid for the use of the water 
power, but indirectly by creating a market and demand for 
the agricultural supply of that section," etc. 

Another point which must not be overlooked is the near- 
ness to the Cumberland coal fields, the product of which 
is acknowledged to be of especial value in manufactures. 

We are also in position to receive the raw material, 
metal, wool, cotton, etc., at an advantage, being central for 
reception as well as for distribution. 

Our general trade, in its magnitude and value, is indi- 
cated somewhat by the extent of our manufactures. But 
not alone in the exportation of the things produced in Balti- 
more is our foreign commerce great. During one month 
of the past year we shipped more corn to Europe than did 
any other port, even New York. In iron and other com- 
modities also there is an immense business done from the 
wharves on the Patapsco and Basin. The annual shipments 



424 BALTIMORE. 

of cattle on the hoof as well as of beef, hides, etc., make an 
enormous aggregate. 

In regard to our grain trade, one of the very best author- 
ities has said that but for the insufficiency of the equipment 
of the railroads that do the carrying from the grain-pro- 
ducing West, our exports during 1891 would have been 
very much larger than they were. 

President Randall of the Board of Trade, in his last 
annual speech, said : 

" This past year has more than ever clearly proved to us 
receivers and shippers, bankers and brokers, insurance men 
and exchange dealers, in addition to railroad men and 
steamship owners, the value to Baltimore of business made 
upon this floor. Counting from the first of January to the 
last day of December, 1891, there have arrived at this port, 
or been chartered to come here, 800 ocean steamers of vari- 
ous sizes from all parts of the world. Of these 800 steam- 
ers, fully 750, or nine-tenths, have been brought here 
mainly through the instrumentality of the trades repre- 
sented on this exchange. It is a simple matter to figure the 
tonnage thus entering and clearing this port, and to state 
in fioures that i,soo,ooo or more tons of freieht were 
received, and another 1,500,000 shipped. Such figures con- 
vey no impression, nor would the mind grasp more quickly 
the idea that 3,000,000 tons means the capacity of 150,000 
freight cars on our railroads ; but when we acid the neces- 
sary accompaniment and means for producing this move- 
ment, of effecting this interchange of commodities, it is not 
an exaggeration to say that, for every member of this 
exchange, twenty-five, perhaps fifty, others are employed 
in one capacity or another directly interested in this busi- 
ness. Here then is an army of thousands whose livelihood 
depends upon transactions inaugurated upon the Corn and 



INDUSTRIAL BALTIMORE. 425 

Flour Exchange. Besides, the foreign trade of our city in 
other departments secures thereby greater facilities than if 
our imports were necessarily handled by rival markets, 
while our coastwise business is increased proportionally for 
the same reason. In the mere matter of coal brought hen 
by foreign steamers in the last year for consumption in 
their voyages, 200,000 tons falls within limits, giving busi- 
ness to coal dealers and transportation companies as well 
as our own mines, and developing the wealth of Maryland, 
while the Texas steer on his short-lived trip abroad, though 
fattened on the plains, must be fed at sea, and consumes 
thousands of tons of Maryland hay en route for Europe." 

The commercial interests of the city are mainly in the 
hands of men whose methods are conservative and whose 
principles of commercial integrity are well known. A 
writer in a recent number of one of our periodicals says 
upon this point : 

" Commercial success is rarely attained, individually or 
collectively, unless there be commercial adaptability. Per- 
severing in the accomplishment of their purposes, they 
have passed through the storms of war with their prin- 
ciples unshaken, as their predecessors passed through the 
periods of non-intercourse and embargo. They have 
prospered under State banks and national banks, and under 
protective tariffs and tariffs for revenue, and have withstood 
the ordeals of financial convulsions with a moral heroism 
second to that of no other body of business men in the 
land. Filled with honest thoughts and the spirit of com- 
mercial righteousness, they have maintained their honor 
when bankruptcy was stalking through the land and sover- 
eign States were repudiating their lawful debts. Patriot- 
ism on the field of battle never made a firmer stand for the 
honor of country than our business men have made for 



426 BALTIMORE. 

public and private credit. In many ways they have illus- 
trated the opinion oft expressed, that commercial life affords 
the fairest fields for the triumphs of man, not only in mate- 
rial progress but in moral and intellectual elevation. The 
commerce and trade of a city, owned and conducted by busi- 
ness men of such characteristics as I describe, must neces- 
sarily be conducted by intelligence and enterprise, and rest 
upon the solid foundation of capital and experience." 

Our greatest export trade is with England, amounting to 
upwards of $40,000,000 in value, and next to that country 
comes Germany, whose imports from Baltimore are about 
one-fifth of Great Britain's. Close after these is the ac- 
count with the Netherlands, the rest of Europe following 
with smaller figures. The cargoes that we send are grain, 
tobacco, coal, cotton, metal, provisions, hard-wood, cattle, 
and in fact everything that can be made or transhipped in 
the United States. 

South America also becomes increasingly a point of in- 
terest as our exports to Brazil and other of the countries of 
that continent is augmented. Flour especially is sent to our 
neighbor across the equator, whose coffee, nuts, woods and 
other tropical products freight the returning vessels. 

Our Stock Exchange, which is an institution of long stand- 
ing and high reputation, does a very large business, and as 
exchanges are certainly the thermometers of business, it 
seems proper to give it a place in this chapter. 

The organization of the first exchange took place at the 
office of William Woodville on the 26th of February, 1838. 
Mr. Woodville was made secretary and treasurer of the 
board, Mr. Jamison being elected president and Mr. Bar- 
ney vice-president. Bank and railroad stock was listed. 
But the affair fell through and it was not until 1844 tnat 
the present board was organized. It is said that none of 



INDUSTRIAL BALTIMORE. 427 

the original members are now left in the board. During 
the war the Stock Exchange suspended its operations for a 
while, only to resume when the horizon again became clear. 
The exchange has a membership of 79 and its quarters are 
on German Street. 

At no time in our history has our commerce been so 
extensive as now, having kept pace with the activity in 
manufacturing industry which we have just considered. 

A decade has shown an increase in trade of nearly 
twenty millions of dollars. 

Our port is to-day the second in the United States. 
We have the finest coastwise trade of any city. The 
increase in our custonvhouse receipts, shown in the report 
for the last year given in the census of 1890, proves that 
the increase of our foreign exports was greater than that 
of New York, Philadelphia and Boston combined, by about 
two million dollars. 

In the chapter devoted to the harbor I mentioned the 
guano yards. The great bulk of this valuable phosphate 
comes here, as does also an important share of the West 
Indian trade in fruit, etc. 

At our wharves and docks lie the great busy fleet of 
merchantmen that has gained for us the soubriquet of the 
" Liverpool of America." That so many of the steamship 
lines plying between this and foreign ports are owned in 
other countries is a drawback which we share with all 
American cities. It is due to political causes which need 
not be discussed here, and I can only express the hope 
that eventually we may see American commerce once more 
carried on in American bottoms. 

That reflection, however, does not in any way detract 
from the merits of such steamship lines as the Allan, 
the Norddeutscher Lloyd, and others. The first of these is 



428 BALTIMORE. 

owned in Glasgow, and it was the earliest to carry passen- 
gers and assorted cargoes between Baltimore and Liver- 
pool. There are five or six steamers in this service, 
which not only carry directly to and from Liverpool, but 
tranship freight from here to London, Glasgow, Hamburg, 
Hull, Antwerp and Havre. 

The Norddeutscher Lloyd line is the Imperial German 
mail. Its steamers run from here to Bremen, all from five 
thousand five hundred to six hundred tons burden, and 
make their run of nearly four thousand miles in an average 
of twelve days. Last year the line carried forty-five thou- 
sand passengers, besides freight. A steamer- of this line 
sails from Baltimore every week. 

The Johnston line is one of the largest cattle carriers, 
plying between the wharves of the Baltimore & Ohio, at 
Locust Point, to England. Its steamers are large and are 
fitted for a limited passenger service. 

The Baltimore Storage and Lighterage Company, which 
is aoent for the Lord Line to Belfast and Dublin, runs fleet 
and able freighters across the ocean. The Hamburg-Amer- 
ican Packet Line is also represented by the same company, 
as are also the Empire and others. The Baltimore Stor- 
age and Lighterage Company own and manage the Atlantic 
Transport Line. It is one of the finest freight-carrying 
lines on the Atlantic, its eight splendid boats being spe- 
cially constructed for the speed, safety and capacity so 
necessary in cattle and refrigerator steamers. 

I might go on, page after page, enumerating the vessels 
that contribute to the total of the fleet of cargo-carriers 
which have made Baltimore the port it is ; but this is not a 
directory of transatlantic steamships. 

The commerce of a continent finds here one of its 
most important gateways, and the great bulk of local in- 



INDUSTRIAL BALTIMORE. 4-<; 

dustries swells the figures of our prosperity to an enormous 
total. 

The York River Line and others form the best commer- 
cial link with the new South. Through them the various 
avenues of trade are connected, and their value to com- 
merce severally enhanced. By means of them many of our 
warehouses are filled, our mills supplied with raw material, 
our mercantile firms made factors of trade, and our markets 
supplied with various commodities. 

While the deep freighted hulls of incoming and outgoing 
merchantmen, celebrated in the reports ol commercial ex- 
changes and boards of trade, cannot fail to impress us with 
the importance and magnitude of our commerce by water, 
the value of the great railway lines and systems that are 
also feeders to our market, should not be overlooked. Bal- 
timore's position, geographically, is such that one naturally 
expects to see great results. As has been often pointed 
out, ours is the nearest port of entry to the interior of the 
country ; ours is one of the finest harbors in the world ; the 
position of Baltimore is so central that New York is out of 
the way by comparison. Again, we occupy the middle 
position between North and South, being especially the 
natural market for the products of the latter. Near us lie 
the c'reat steam coal fields of the Cumberland ; to us the 
wealth of Pennsylvania and Ohio naturally flow. 

Reason after reason might lie added to show why we 
should naturally have here on the Chesapeake the most 
prosperous, the wealthiest, the largest city on the continent. 
Has there been any lack in the people themselves? The 
energy of Baltimore gave to America the first railway on 
the continent. The people of Maryland spent millions to 
build a canal before that, across the Appalachian Moun- 
tains. Therein, by the way, lay the stupendous difficulty in 



430 BALTIMORE. 

our path, the mountains that hemmed us in made a barrier 
which at first proved too great to be surmounted. New 
York, having a better natural course for her great Erie 
canal, and later for her chief railway system, gained that 
supremacy which has made her the first commercial city in 
the country. 

But Baltimore has gradually overcome her obstacles, or 
is overcoming them, and we can say to-day that her rate of 
growth is more rapid than that of an)- other city, and at the 
ratio already established, the day cannot be far distant when 
we shall see her not only in, but leading the van. 

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, by purchases and 
extensions, has so shortened its mileage between here and 
Chicago that it is now one of the most direct lines connect- 
ing the East with the West. This railroad also owns three 
of the six large grain elevators which are run from the har- 
bor. Two of these are at Locust Point and have jointly 
a capacity of over three million bushels. The third is at 
Camden Station. The larger elevators can receive from 
five hundred to seven hundred cars a clay and deliver a mill- 
ion bushels. These are on the south side of the harbor at 
Locust Point. On the Canton side is the terminal of the 
Northern Central. 

The Pennsylvania road owns three elevators also and 
has increased its terminal facilities to such an extent that 
it promises well for an increase of business. And yet 
neither road has had sufficient rolling stock to meet the 
great demand of an unusually active grain year. 

The Western Maryland road and the Baltimore & 
Lehigh (formerly Maryland Central) are also seeking tide- 
water terminals and will doubtless add their quota to the 
growing trade of the port. 

I need not go further to show that the basis of Balti- 



INDUSTRIAL BALTIMORE. 431 

more's industrial and commercial prosperity ami growth is 
real and solid, not spurious. Anything like a full report of 
what has been done and is being accomplished along the 
lines which I have here merely indicated, would fill as 
many books as I have given pages to the subject. With- 
out question, the general reader would rather leave the peru- 
sal of such a mass of figures and facts to the statistician. 

I sometimes think that a list of America's manufacturing 
towns would surprise a great many Americans. Such lists 
are frequently published, but apparently not read or remem- 
bered, as otherwise there would be less surprise evinced 
when Baltimore is spoken of as the eighth manufacturing 
city in the country, being close behind Cincinnati and 
ahead of Pittsburg. In the same way New York's position 
at the head of the list is often questioned by those who do 
not seem to realize that a great manufacturing town can In- 
still more important as a mercantile, social or educational 
centre. 

While Baltimore is proud of her position as a city of col- 
leges and libraries, of societies and society, of large commer- 
cial interests and maritime importance, she can also make 
a brilliant showing as a producer of manufactured goods. 
For such work her advantages are peculiarly good. The 
chief of them are the cheapness of water supply and the 
nearness of the Maryland and West Virginia coal fields. 
Over 2,000,000 gallons of water are used daily in the vari- 
ous factories, being largely drawn from the Gunpowder 
River. 

According to the last census there were over four thou- 
sand establishments of various kinds with an aggregated 
capital of $46,245,343. These employ more than three 
score thousand people, — men, women and children, — who 
receive annually in the neighborhood of $17,000,000. 



432 BALTIMORE. 

Thus about an eighth of the population is engaged directly 
in the business of making textile fabrics, working metal and 
wood or supplying the world's wants in some way. 

In another chapter I have spoken of the decadence of 
ship-building here as elsewhere in the United States. That 
it has not entirely died away is evidenced by the figures 
for the year 1891, which show that during the twelve months 
twenty vessels were launched from the yards here, and that 
the tonnage of these amounted to six thousand seven hun- 
dred and thirty-four, while their value was $1,591,000. The 
work on some of the government vessels though not com- 
pleted within the year, should however be counted in con- 
sidering the amount of employment which is given in the 
shipyards to a large class of mechanics. 

I would not paint everything rose color by any means. 
While believing fully in the advantages and growth of Bal- 
timore as a trade centre, it is impossible to avoid the recog- 
nition of drawbacks. The trade with the Southwest has 
not increased, has in fact somewhat decreased. The Shen- 
andoah Valley Railroad and the Norfolk & Western have 
diverted considerable business. Roanoke claims a growth of 
over twenty-five thousand (on four hundred) in ten years 
and says that in the next decade her population will reach 
a hundred thousand. This is done through the deflection 
of trade which should remain with this port. Wilmington, 
N. C, has become a terminal point and an important one. 
Lately the Baltimore Sun said editorially : 

"The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad cannot afford to stop at Roanoke. 
The unsurpassed advantages of southwestern Virginia as a place for 
money-making are fast becoming appreciated, and as a consequence capi- 
tal and population are flowing in. Coal-mining, although yet in its infancy, 
has assumed immense proportions, and the output this year will nearly 
equal that of the Alleghany region in Maryland ; the iron, lead, and 



INDUSTRIAL BALTIMORE. 433 

copper deposits are being more extensively worked than ever before, while 
there is an increasing demand from east and west for the hard woods 
which abound in immense quantities and of superior quality all the way 
from Lynchburg to Bristol. Added to those are in fact, the ' cattle upon a 
thousand hills,' sheep by the hundreds of thousands, and a soil which yields 
in great abundance, cotton, cereals, tobacco, etc." 

These significant facts we cannot afford to be blind to, 
even for the sake of saying very pleasant things about the 
city of our pride. As a lover of its past and a sincere 
believer in its future, I would see no stone left unturned to 
discover the best means to achieve its final and permanent 
pre-eminence among American cities. 




CHAPTER XXIX. 

STREET RAILWAYS AND THEIR RELATION TO URBAN 
DEVELOPMENT. 

HEN a stranger comes to Baltimore, he is 
apt to be bewildered by the apparent mul- 
tiplicity of the street car lines which in- 
tersect the city at so many points. After 
a while it begins to dawn upon him that 
there are not quite so many lines as he 
thinks, but that those that there are double and twist so 
that they will cover as much territory as possible. 

From the first public conveyance, in which the long-suffer- 
ing people of long ago were jolted over the poorly built 
roads, to the latest triumphs of the Cable and the Electric 
systems there is a long jump. Between these two points 
we will find, if we look for it, the industrial history and much 
of the social narrative of the city. 

Can one stand upon one of the great thoroughfares, now 
teeming with life and activity, and realize that once these 
streets and avenues were for the most part roads and lanes 
where they existed at all, and that few and very far between 
were the vehicles that travelled over them. There came 
occasionally an itinerant minister or a lawyer on circuit duty, 




(3 

u. 



TJ 



3 

a 



STREET RAILWAYS AND URBAX DEVELOPMENT. 435 

astride of a nasf whose saddle-bags showed how little 
dependence the rider placed in any providence but his own 
forethought ; or the doctor, busiest and most helpful and 
least compensated of men, jogged along in a buggy with 
high, broad wheels and a top like a gigantic scuttle hat. 

In those days any one in Baltimore town could tell who 
had passed his house in the course of a morning, at least if 
he used any mode of locomotion more pretentious than his 
own two feet. When a family coach rolled by, heavy, 
grand and lumbering, built in England and driven by a 
liveried negro whose pride of station might be seen in ever)* 
line of his face, — then the young and old Hocked to see such 
an uncommon sight and it was recollected for a long time. 
The poor were not great hands for riding in those days ; it 
was an expensive luxury, which only the wealthy might 
enjoy. 

People moved in the same way that the town grew, — 
slowly. 

Indeed there is one great distinction to be made between 
then and now : We have a travelling public, where our 
fathers only knew a small travelling class. Between this 
travelling class and the great public of to-day, which docs 
not resent the late William H. Vanderbilt's inverted bless- 
ing, but which does resent any curtailment of its privilege 
of going where it pleases, there is an impassable gulf fixed. 
Even if we wanted to sjo back we could not, and there is no 
evidence, not the slightest, that any one wants to do so. 

It it a well-known fact that wherever vehicles have be- 
come common, roads have rapidly improved. Not for the 
few carriages, even of the important rich man, will people 
take a great interest in roads, but as soon as a man begins 
to travel himself, the condition of the road becomes a mat- 
ter of vital interest to him. Even so small a matter as the 



436 BALTIMORE. 

bicycle wheel has given us better and fuller country road- 
maps all over the United States; the saddle-horse needed 
but a narrow track, the solitary rider built up nothing;. But 
with the advent of the public conveyances, travel gradually 
increased, a travelling public was created and the value of 
property was enhanced in proportion to its availability. 

What is true of the whole country is true of the city as 
well. A city grows in two ways, from the inside outward 
and from the outside inward. Those who are already in it 
are the ones who push further away from the centre, for 
elbow-room, in whatever direction they can conveniently 
travel, and at the same time the people from afar come in 
to fill their places as though their exodus had created a 
vacuum. 

The history of street-car lines is, as I have said, sugges- 
tive of a history of the people in their business and their 
home-seeking. 

The law of supply and demand has its application to city 
railways as to everything else. Our first electric road was 
an illustration of this, coming as it did before there was 
sufficient call for it ; yet even this in the right locality, if it 
could have been carried long enough, would in time have 
created its own business. 

That was the Baltimore & Hampden line, which ran to 
Hampden village along the line of Remington Avenue. It 
was not only the first electric line in Baltimore, but in the 
United States, and I believe in the world. That it was not 
a success is not strange when one considers the usual fate 
of pioneer enterprises. It was very much like the first ele- 
vated road in New York in this respect. Mr. Harvey, the 
inventor and projector of the first plan for elevated rail- 
roads, lived to see New York dependent upon later and 
better ones, which might never have been successful if he 



STREET RAILWAYS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. 437 

haa not come first with his failure to break the ground for 
them. 

This may perhaps have been the case with the somewhat 
clumsy though certainly effective electric locomotives of 
the Baltimore & Hampden line. The engines were sepa- 
rate from the cars they were to pull, and were constructed 
on the Daft system, getting their power from a centre rail 
which carried it from the power house. The main difficulty 
with this line was not in the application of power, nor in tin- 
ability of the locomotives, however, for very steep grades 
were accomplished and sharp curves successfully made, but 
the travelling public were not educated up to a realization 
of its own needs, which is only another way of saying that 
there was no travelling public for electric roads at that 
time. So after a time, not finding the profit they expected 
in the new departure, the owners and managers of the line 
took off their locomotives again and put back the car horses 
which had preceded them, for the line had been originally 
a horse car one only, — and ran on in the old way. 

But the city was growing rapidly, and is growing to-day 
at an ever-increasing ratio. The past two years has seen 
an addition of forty thousand people to our population and 
these people must spread. Before the latest trial in rapid 
transit was made, a deep and increasing murmur was begin- 
ning to be heard against the then inadequate facilities for 
urban travel. The demand was becoming insistent. 

When the first cars of the cable system were put on, 
there was a public enthusiasm which more than anything 
else could have done, showed that. a popular demand was 
being complied with. The officers of the road, anticipating 
trouble from the impatient crowds that they believed 
would await the event, consulted me, suggesting that a 
policeman be placed upon each car to keep the eager throng 



438 BALTIMORE. 

from pressing in to the point of overcrowding. I pointed 
out that an officer on a car would be much less efficient for 
such a purpose than one stationed at the corner where the 
crowd had already congregated, as he could then warn the 
people and keep them back, better than he could expostu- 
late and fight them back after they were once in motion. 

The precaution proved to be a wise one, for upon the 
day of the formal opening of the line there was as great an 
excitement as there would have been over a political parade, 
and thousands of curious, eager citizens evinced an interest 
and eagerness which was highly gratifying to the stock- 
holders of the road, though a little embarrassing at times to 
the guardians of the peace. 

Instead of dying out, as some predicted that it would do 
as soon as popular curiosity was satisfied, the interest kept 
up for some time, and although that which was abnormal or 
extraordinary about it died down after awhile, yet enough 
has remained to show that it was not merely a spurious 
excitement which prompted it. The people needed and 
demanded rapid transit. 

And what has been the result of the establishment of the 
new cable and electric roads ? Already there has been an 
increase in the value of property ; an appreciation in home 
sites outside of the old limits. Men who found it neces- 
sary for business reasons to live almost within hail of their 
offices, are now looking for suburban residences. Those 
who used to get their lunches or dinners down town and go 
home late, find that now they can enjoy the comforts,— 
not to speak of the economy, — of dining at home. Month 
by month the travel is increasing. The only people who 
seem to object with any show of reason to the new order 
of things are the restaurant keepers whose business has fal- 
len off since the advent of rapid transit. 



STREET RAILWAYS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. 439 

No matter how vigorously economical people might 
object to riding in the horse-cars, like the late Johns Hop- 
kins, of whom it is said that he would not ride because one 
car-fare was a year's interest on a dollar, yet increased speed 
has made it real economy to do so. The difference between 
walking and street-car travel, some one has remarked, was 
too slight to be appreciated, but now the time consumed in 
a journey from one part of the city to another is cut down 
at least half, and the consequence is that many ride who 
never used to think of doing so. This addition to the pat- 
ronage of the lines is entirely independent of the gain from 
parallel horse lines. 

I have had a good deal to say about this matter, because 
it seems to me that the growth of internal facilities for 
transportation is very closely related to the growth and 
prosperity of the city. There is no boom in Baltimore, yet 
prices are advancing healthily, realty is progressive and 
building advances. The system of ground rents, which has 
been for so many years an incubus, can no longer keep back 
the expansion, which is due to natural and legitimate causes. 

About the middle of September, 1892, on a Wednesday, 
the Central Passenger railway ran its cars for the public for 
the first time. The effect was startling even to those who 
know what an excursion-loving people the Baltirnoreans 
are. They thronged the conveyances, men, women and 
children by the thousand crowding the cars. Ten days 
later the same line carried a Sunday crowd numbering at 
least eighteen thousand people. There were fifteen cars 
running at six minutes headway, and making the round 
trip from Broadway to Pennsylvania Avenue in an hour 
and a half. 

Commenting upon the increased values and activity in 
real estate one of the leading dailies stroncdv advocated the 



440 BALTIMORE. 

bringing to Baltimore the national real-estate conference 
in 1893. The presence of such a body can do nothing to 
make a demand which does not exist in a city, nor can it 
check a movement in realty which has already begun. Dis- 
cussion will never make values in the world. 

When a boy gets too big for his jacket so that the buttons 
begin to come off he must have a new jacket, a jacket with 
more cloth and lono'er seams and more buttons. Well, a 
city may get too big for its jacket too, since a city is a vital 
creature after all, with brain and muscle and digestive 
apparatus, like any other vital creature, and the Traction 
Company and other rapid transit systems are simply making 
the new garment ample enough, and in my opinion the more 
elbow-room it has in its jacket the faster Baltimore will 
grow into the need for still larger space. It is wonderful 
what a growing boy or a growing city requires in this 
respect. 

Through the city a busy set of human moles have been 
diesfing', tunneling for lono- months. fust as the four-footed 
mole makes his way across a garden or lawn, and is only to 
be detected by the disturbance which he causes to the sur- 
face, so the Belt Line railroad tunnel has been constructed 
underneath the streets and buildings of the city. 

Up to the beginning of 1892, about one-half of the work 
on this great piece of engineering was accomplished. There 
were shafts in German, Saratoga, Franklin and Park Streets, 
and the total lenQ'th as estimated at the start was to be 
8,600 feet. 

The Belt Line is the connecting link, long needed, by 
which the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad gains a more direct 
line to the north, the Western Maryland reaches tide water, 
and the Maryland Central gets into the heart of the city. 
Its utility had long been conceded in advance of its con- 



STREET RAILWAYS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. 441 

struction, and, indeed, like most other great enterprises, it 
was the outcome of a popular demand for better facilities. 

Of course there was great opposition at first, and a great 
many objections all the time, but the benefits of a short 
cut through the city have come to be felt by the majority 
of the people. 

In order to accomplish the desired end, considerable' 
property was acquired by purchase and otherwise, so that 
there will be spaces of open track, bridges, etc. 

The course of the Belt Line is from South Howard Street, 
near Hamburg, in the neighborhood of the yard of the Bal- 
timore & Ohio Railroad, and runs out Howard Street 
beyond Richmond Market, and then through open and 
walled cuttings across Jones' Falls to the terminal of the 
Maryland Central Railroad; then out to and along the 
south side of Walnut or Seventh Street to the city limits at 
Loney's lane ; then through Baltimore County to Bayview 
Station, where it will connect with the tracks of the Phila- 
delphia division of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad : a bridge 
will be built to span the tracks of the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road and Jones' Falls. 

The contractors, Messrs. Ryan and McDonald, have 
encountered quicksand and other obstructions in their 
course, but have pushed on, disregarding obstacles. Per- 
haps the worst obstructions, because taking most time and 
care to surmount, are gas mains, sewer pipes, and other like 
things. 

At certain [daces the crust has been damaged to such an 
extent that buildings have been rendered unsafe as the tun- 
nel progressed. 

The Belt Line will hereafter insure to the workingman 
and woman who lives out of town a better and quicker 
means of reaching their work than has ever before been 



442 BALTIMORE. 

given them. Excavating and masonry have been carried 
on together, the work beingf done in such a manner that 
streets are as far as possible protected and travel and traffic 
unobstructed. 

Baltimore has terminal facilities sufficient for present 
needs, it would seem, but the building of the Belt Line will 
prove of incalcuable advantage in making these benefits 
more thoroughly available. Among the directors and 
officers of the company are William Gilmore, John Henry 
Miller and Mr. Houseman of Pittsburg • George I. Brown, 
James Sloan, Jr., William F. Frick, Thomas M. King, John 
B. McDonald, and others. 

The city street railway lines had increased in mileage 
more than 70 per cent, in the ten years between 1S80 and 
1890. Since then the increase has been even more rapid. 
In 1890 the 105 miles of road did not include one cable or 
electric line, while now, in addition to those already run- 
ning and the traction on the trolley systems, nearly all the 
important lines are cabling to some extent. 

One of the late additions to local railways is the Lake 
Roland Elevated, for which ground was broken early in '9?. 
The Duplex Street Railway Track Company, of New 
York, secured the contract to build the line, and an army 
of men were immediately set to work to push the construc- 
tion as rapidly as possible. The route connects the Lake 
Roland Elevated with the North Avenue Line at Oak 
Street and North Avenue. From North Avenue the cars 
run up Oak Street to Twenty-third, to Hampden Avenue, 
to Twenty-fourth Street, and thence in a northerly and 
northwesterly course over Stony Run Branch to Cedar, to 
Second, to Hampton, to Elm Avenues. The Lake 
Roland Heights Company purchased sixty acres of land on 
Lake Roland, at $500 an acre, it is said, with the idea of 
developing the suburbs of Baltimore in that direction. 




<9 



X 



CHAPTER XXX. 



BUSY .MEN AND FAIR WOMEN. 




NE of the men whose names are closely identi- 
fied with the Baltimore of to-day is Charles 
F. Mayer, the nervous, energetic president 
of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. No 
one can look at Mr. Mayer and doubt the 
force that is written in every line of his 
somewhat frowning face. That force of 
character has led him to devote himself to the work he 
has succeeded so admirably in accomplishing, of lifting 
the Baltimore oc Ohio back to its old pre-eminence. 
In doing this Mr. Mayer has almost entirely turned his 
back upon social or civic affairs, giving a striking example 
of what concentration of energy will do to accomplish suc- 
cess. It is this devotion to a paramount aim which makes 
his story and character worth the attention of a younger 
generation. 

The late Louis Mayer, his father, whose name is identified 
with the development of the anthracite coal region, was a 
lawyer of ability and prominence in Maryland. The son 
was born in Pennsylvania in the thirties, and began his 



444 BALTIMORE. 

business career as an employee of his uncle, who, in addi- 
tion to a store, ran a line of vessels in the Valparaiso trade. 

Young Mayer went to South America in his uncle's ser- 
vice, and remained there until the death of the latter placed 
him at the head of the firm. 

Later he helped to establish and became the head of the 
Despard (coal) Gas Company, and with both this and the 
Consolidation Coal Company, of which he afterwards became 
president, he was very successful. The coal company was 
on its last legs when Mr. Mayer took hold and gradually 
increased its capital to $10,000,000. 

Besides these the names of the companies of which Mr. 
Mayer has been president or director would make a long 
list. Among others is the Cumberland & Ohio Rail- 
road Co., running to the coal regions. 

A biographer tells this characteristic story of Mr. Mayer's 
election to the presidency of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad: 

" His work in reorganizing the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
road has placed him among the most noted of railway presi- 
dents of the country. When elected president of the 
road, he was in attendance as a member of the Board of 
Directors. His election was announced to him, and he 
arose from the chair, went direct to the president's office, 
took his seat and went to work. Within a few minutes he 
had reappointed the clerks in that office, and immediately 
afterwards had called on the vice-president and secretary 
for reports. From the moment of his election he was 
president." 

In working toward the end, which he soon accomplished, 
of dissociating the road from political aims and leadership, 
the new president showed great sagacity. This was an 
aim for which Mr. Garrett had also labored. He clearly 
saw that until that end was accomplished there could be no 



BUSY MEN AND FAIR WOMEN. 445 

business stability. Mr. Mayer carried out his conception 
by inducing the city and State to sellout the interest which 
they had heretofore held in the road, and from that hour 
the property began to recover its old time prosperity and 
reputation. 

Another of Baltimore's busy men is one who is making 
a success in another field of work, not primarily as a busi- 
ness man, but as the director of a great group of industries. 

Mr. Frank B. King is the marine superintendent of 
the Maryland Company's shipbuilding plant at Sparrow's 
Point. Under his eye and management the whole vast 
machinery of those acres of busy shops and yards is 
equipped and run. Back of the hydraulic machines, planes, 
rollers, mills and forges ; back of the great Westinghouse 
engine, is the busy brain of the man to whom the mechani- 
cal world looks as he undertakes to build up the most 
extensive plant hitherto established in the United States. 

Mr. King was educated for his profession in the shops of 
John Roach, and then went into the service of the Cramps 
of Philadelphia, where he remained for some time, leaving 
that employ to go with the Pusey & [ones Co., of Wilming- 
ton, Delaware. 

He was appointed to an honorable position on the 
designing staff of the Bureau of Construction and Repair. 
When the first of our steel naval fleet were planned, and 
while holding this billet, Mr. King was detailed by the 
Chief Constructor, Mr. Wilson, to go with Mr. Hichborn 
to the best equipped plants of Europe and study there the 
methods in vogue in naval architecture and construction. 
Tools and machinery especially were to be carefully noted. 
The report made by the envoys was of such a nature 
that it at once became a standard work of recognized value 
and authority. 



446 BALTIMORE. 

This service brought Mr. King's name and reputation 
prominently before shipbuilding" firms who were looking for 
just such trained talent, and, as a result, he was offered an 
advantageous position with the Columbian Iron Works, 
which he accepted, only leaving it to assume the duties 
which he now performs. 

Still a young man, the superintendent of the Sparrow's 
Point works has won a right to be considered among our 
busy men. 

Among our representative men, the name of the Hon. 
William A. Stewart is conspicuous as one of the judges of 
the Supreme bench. He was born in Baltimore in 1825, of 
an American family with an Irish origin, was educated in 
this city and admitted to practise law in the Baltimore 
County Court in 1847, when twenty-two years of age. Two 
years later he was appointed clerk of the first house of the 
City Court, which position he held for three years, and in the 
following year was elected a member of the House of Del- 
egates from Baltimore, and served creditably for two years, 
and on the third was chosen as chief clerk of that body. 

An intermission to his service in the House was afforded 
by an extended European tour which Mr. Stewart made 
previous to 1867. Upon his return he was re-elected to the 
House of Delegates, and in 1868 became speaker of that 
body. One of the things which he accomplished previous 
to his departure for Europe was the revision, under author, 
ity of the corporation of Baltimore, of the city ordinances, 
and a digest of the Acts of Assembly relative to the city. 
This work was considered, as indeed it was, a highly cred- 
itable performance and one which was in its nature monu- 
mental. 

Mr. Stewart's election as one of the judges of the Supreme 
bench tjok place in October, 1882, for a term of fifteen 



BUSY MEN AND FAIR WOMEN. 44; 

years. He has presided at times over each of the six state 
courts of the city of Baltimore. But during a busy life he- 
has not by any means confined his attention solely to the 
law. His contributions on historical subjects to the various 
societies to which he belongs are voluminous and valuable, 
his special study in this field being upon matters relating to 
colonial and revolutionary history. Further than this his 
church and Sunday-school work in the Episcopal Church, 
with which he is connected, has been unremitting and to his 
reputation as a lawyer is added the more enviable character 
of a Christian gentleman. 

A year younger than Judge Stewart is Oden Bowie, ex- 
governor of Maryland, whose identification with Baltimore's 
progress has been constant for many years. He had just 
graduated with honors from St. Mary's College, Baltimore, 
when the Mexican war broke out, and like many another 
youth of the period his hot young blood impelled him to 
enlist. His record as a soldier was such that upon his re- 
turn he was nominated for the Legislature, though at tin; 
time he had not yet attained his majority. A term in the 
Senate followed and finally the chief honor which the State 
could pay was given him, in the governorship of Maryland. 
This was in 1S67. One of the most important of the main- 
changes and improvements which he efiected during his 
term of office was that of putting the Chesapeake ec Ohio 
Canal upon its feet and making a paying institution of one 
that had been almost a lost enterprise. 

The same energy which distinguished Governor Bowie in 
public life attended him when he retired from active politics 
and gave his attention solely to business enterprises. His 
name in well known in railroad circles as the president of 
the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Company. The Balti- 
more City Passenger Railway, of which he is also president, 



448 BALTIMORE. 

owes much of its success to him, and in financial and banking 
circles there are few of our citizens who are better known 
than Ex-Governor Bowie. 

If it was asked whose name among living Baltimore men 
is best known to every man, woman and child in the 
city, it is more than possible that the answer would be 
" Enoch Pratt." He is a descendant of the Puritans, an 
inheritor of the sf rim determination and large conscience of 
the men who founded Massachusetts. But although a New 
Englander by birth, Baltimore can fairly claim Mr. Pratt, 
since he has been here since 1832, when he first started in 
the hardware commission business. He has been battling 
with the world for himself since he was fifteen years old, 
and possesses a number of millions of dollars as proofs of 
victory ; but the great financier's enjoyment of his great 
wealth has not been selfish, as those who have benefitted 
by his munificent gift to the city can testify. It is one 
thing to leave money to found a great institution after one 
is dead, but it is quite another to do as Mr. Pratt has 
done and hand over a fortune for the establishment 
and maintenance of a magnificent library while he is still 
controlling his own business affairs in this workaday world, 
and it seems to me a nobler form of philanthropy than the 
other. 

The Pratt Free Library is only one of many charities and 
benefactions with which its founder is connected — many 
are the schools, institutions for the halt, the maimed and 
the blind, houses of reformation and various other establish- 
ments whose purpose is to help or to raise mankind, which 
know his name as director or as president. Besides his 
connection with these things he is city finance commis- 
sioner and an officer in various financial and commercial 
companies. There is hardly a man in Baltimore to-day who 



BUSY MEN AND FAIR WOMEN. 449 

fills a larger place than this octogenarian, for Mr. Pratt is 
eighty-four years of age. 

Among the little coterie who may be seen almost nightly 
at Ford's Opera House gathered about that shrewd, wise, 
kindly veteran of the stage, for a chat over the affairs of the 
day and the incidents that interest Baltimoreans, is Mr. 
Thornton Rollins, a man who has won his position as one 
of Baltimore's largest shipowners and coffee importers. 
He is ten years older than he looks, and at least twenty 
older than he feels, which is said to be the true measure of 
a man's age. His taste for shipping and kindred pursuits 
he inherited from his father, Captain William Rollins, and 
his personal efforts and influence have been strongly felt in 
Baltimore shipping for the last twenty years. When others 
were going elsewhere for bottoms, as the nautical term is, 
Mr. Rollins built his vessels here, equipped them hen- and 
sailed them from here, and the money that he has made has 
been for the benefit of Baltimore. Besides being vice-presi- 
dent of the Continental National Bank, a member of the 
Board of Trade and of the Harbor Board, Mr. Rollins is 
director in various trading and importing institutions and 
has been identified with the city government. 

Robert C Davidson, who has recently filled the office of 
mayor of Baltimore, is a self-made man, having won his way 
from the position of errand-boy in the employ of Daniel 
Miller & Co., which he filled at sixteen years of age, to the 
mayoralty, to which he was elected when only thirty-nine 
years of age. Mr. Davidson's prominence in the financial 
world to-day is largely due to his position as president of 
the Mercantile Guarantee and Trust Company. 

The names and achievements of others whose labors have 
added to the development of the city, have been mentioned 
in other places, and of necessity man)' who are worthy of 



450 BALTIMORE. 

prominent mention in connection with Baltimore affairs are 
omitted, because it would require not one volume but a 
library of books to enumerate and describe the characters 
of influence and note that deserve a place among the busy 
men of Baltimore. 

Not alone, however, to her sons has Baltimore owed her 
distinguishing character. Her daughters as well, both in 
the past and in the present, have been celebrated for their 
many accomplishments, wit and beauty. 

Amontr the charming 1 women whose names are cherished 
as part of the city's social history, none is more prominent 
than that of Mrs. Howard, the wife of Colonel Howard, 
and the daughter of Benjamin Chew of Philadelphia. 
Born in the colonial days, a belle in Anglo-American cir- 
cles during the Revolution, she carried into the present 
century and into republican society the sweet courtesy and 
stately manners of the older time. Mrs. Howard was 
described by those who knew her as having "genial man- 
ners " and "much animation." Miss Chew was a Loyalist 
during the war for independence, and her presence added 
to the charm of the social events which served to enliven 
the cities in which the flower of the British army were 
established. The bright, sparkling life of a garrison town 
gave brilliant opportunity for a young lady to prove her 
pre-eminence, and there is every evidence that Miss Chew 
was an acknowledged queen. The unfortunate Major 
Andre, adjutant-general of the British forces, who was cap- 
tured at Tarrytown and hung as a spy at Tappan on the 
Hudson for conspiring with General Arnold to deliver the 
American stronghold at West Point to the British, was 
also a poet, and his rhymed account of a tournament held 
by the British officers in honor of their fair American 
friends, was inscribed to Miss Chew. It is said that a very 





Y/nf/^.S^/fWiJ,,, 



BUSY MEN AND FAIR WOMEN. 45> 

warm friendship existed between the lovely Philadelphia 
girl and the impressionable and spirited young officer. 

However, the loyalist girl finally married a staunch and 
true patriot in Colonel Howard, and their home, Belvedere, 
became the centre of social life in Maryland — and, indeed, 
was not surpassed in the whole country. There were 
entertained Generals Smith, Middleton and Williams, all 
men of note at that day ; there Pinckney, Harper, Taney, 
Ouincy, Adams, and a host of other Americans who had 
won or were winning fame, became familiar guests. The 
stately parlors of Belvedere were the gathering-place for 
as brilliant and distinguished a society as ever was gathered 
in any home in the land ; there the Marquis de Lafayette 
found entertainment and congenial companionship, and 
hardly a foreigner of note visited our shores that did not 
gain a welcome there. Indeed, the hospitality of the 
Howard mansion was noted throughout the land, and wher- 
ever men spoke of American manners the mistress of Bel- 
vedere was remembered. 

The old house is now standing, but the old stately man- 
ners have departed, and instead of great generals, distin- 
guished jurors, statesmen, men of letters and people of sta- 
tion that once enjoyed the range of its acres of woodland 
and lawn, the tired people of a big city seek rest and recrea- 
tion, for Belvedere is now the site of that magnificent 
pleasure ground, Druid Hill Park. Far be it from me to 
attempt the gigantic task of describing or even of enumera- 
ting the brilliant, beautiful and fascinating women of our 
city. There are notable names, such as that of the lady 
whose marriage to the brother of Bonaparte makes her 
descendants, by all titles of justice, the heirs to the Napo- 
leonic name and dignity. Our history is full of the record 
of social celebrities and the triumphs of fair women, whose 



45- BALTIMORE. 

achievements it would require a poet rather than a Marshal 
of police to celebrate. 

One of the best examples of true and distinguished woman- 
hood is Miss Mary Garrett, daughter of John W. Garrett, 
the late president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. A 
firm believer in the higher education of women and in all 
that will tend to elevate her sex, this pioneer woman has 
done everything in her power to carry out her advanced 
views for the benefit of women. Among- other notable 
works she has established and supported the Bryn Mawr 
school for women, an institution too well known in its 
liberal plans and accomplishment to need a description here. 

The stirring, troublous times that we experienced in the 
early sixties, have been recently brought to mind again by 
the death of a lady whose reputation at that time became 
national for her bravery and her beauty. 

Miss Hettie Carey, the daughter of Colonel Wilson 
Miles Carey, to whose dower of beauty was added also a 
dower of brains, was a famous Baltimore belle at the break- 
ing out of the Civil War. With Miss Judith Moale and a 
few other ladies she divided the honors, but there were 
very few others who were allowed by the common verdict 
to be competitors. 

When the tide of political feeling. ran strong, and men 
and women alike took deep interest in the conflict about to 
commence, Miss Carey, as well as her family, was an ardent 
supporter of the Confederate side. Her brilliant mind was 
bent to the one great purpose of helping the cause she 
loved, and she was outspoken in her opinions. On both 
her father's and mother's side, Miss Carey was descended 
from Thomas Jefferson, and it is hardly to be doubted that 
her fervent interest in matters of political interest was an 
inheritance from the great Democratic founder. 



BUSY MEN AND FAIR WOMEN. 455 

At last the words and example of this ardent young' 
Confederate sympathizer drew upon her the attention of 
the Federal authorities, who conceived it necessary to issue 
an order for her arrest. Breaking through the lines of 
blockade the lady escaped from her native city, and was 
received with great attention and homage in Richmond, 
Va., where her social triumphs were many. All Richmond, 
in fact, was at the feet of Baltimore's beautiful advocate of 
the Southern cause. 

After some months the lady returned to Baltimore, only 
to find her foes inexorable. Orders were once more issued 
for her arrest, and managing to get away via Philadelphia, 
and from thence by way of the eastern shore of Maryland 
and Virginia, she reached Richmond once more. 

General John Pegram was at that time in the capital of 
the Confederacy. Like every one else he was drawn to the 
woman whose devotion was the talk of society, and before 
lon^r the soldier found himself obliged to surrender at dis- 
cretion to the fair stranger. That the terms imposed by 
his captor were satisfactory, there can be no doubt. 
Shortly after their engagement was announced, General 
Pegram started for the front, and Miss Carey once more 
ventured to return to Baltimore. Hearing, however, that 
her soldier was wounded, she again ran the blockade in or- 
der to rejoin him, and they were married. Three weeks 
later the young bride was a widow. 

After the fall ot Richmond, when General Wooley was 
in command of Baltimore, Mrs. Pegram and her mother, 
under the security of a pass from General Grant, came 
quietly back to the Monumental City; but the officious com- 
mandant issued an order for her arrest. Both she and her 
mother were arrested, but were not long incarcerated, as 
General Grant acted in the matter with his usual prompt- 



454 BALTIMORE. 

ness, ordering the release of the ladies and an apology from 
General Wooley, whom he relieved from the command of 
the post. This affair naturally created a great deal of ex- 
citement. 

During the later years of her life, which unhappily ended 
in September, 1892, the home of this remarkable woman 
has been one of the centres of intellectual and social life 
here. She married the second time, her husband beine 
Professor Martin, the well-known biologist of Johns Hop- 
kins University. 

That the Baltimore belles are not less quick of speech 
than attractive for their beauty is such a well-known fact 
that I need not dwell upon it. But sometimes an incident 
occurs which illustrates the fact so finely that it refuses to 
be left unrepeated. A very apropos anecdote is related of 
one of the social leaders of the city, a lady whose own rep- 
utation as a beauty, added to the fact that she is the wife 
of one of our wealthiest citizens, gives a prominence to all 
that she does. 

Upon one occasion, when a party of young Englishmen, 
—a " team " in the parlance of tennis or cricket, — were vis- 
iting Baltimore, they were invited to dine at the house of 
the lady referred to. In order to properly impress the dull 
Albion intellect and stir the British lion to something ap- 
proaching enthusiasm the hostess went critically through 
her very large list of acquaintances and chose eleven of the 
most beautiful erirls she knew to meet the strangers. 

She had every reason to be proud of her success, for 
when the guests had assembled it is doubtful if any table 

ever presented a more attractive picture. Mrs. 1 had 

almost told her name — looked proudly from one fair face 
to the next and thought " If this does not dazzle the Engf- 
lishmen, nothing on earth will clo it." 



BUSY MEN AND FAIR WOMEN. 455 

Presently from the other end of the table she heard the 
following; discomforting; dialogue. 

" I have heard-er-a great deal of — ah — your pretty Balti- 
maw girls, Miss Blank ; and I have been looking all ovah 
for them, don't you know. Where do you suppose I could 
find some of them ? " 

Unflinchingly the much-admired, often-praised beauty 
gazed at this terrible foreign connoisseur, and after a mo- 
ment's pause replied in a perfectly clear voice and with all 
the nonchalance imaginable, "Why, /am one of them." 

It is rumored that a young Englishman has retired from 
the cricket field to ponder over the (to him) perfectly in- 
comprehensible ways and speech of American girls. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 




PUBLIC AND RECENT BUILDINGS. 

HERE were, at the beginning of 1891, 
a great many unoccupied houses in the city 
and vacant lots waiting for the hand of the 
builder. During the year a sum probably 
approaching five millions of dollars was ex- 
pended or invested in new buildings, and 
the ratio has increased in 1892. Blocks of 
dwelling-houses of all kinds, most of them intended for 
people of moderate means, have sprung up in various parts 
of the annexed districts. 

There are to-day in Baltimore between ninety-five and 
ninety-six thousand buildings, of which eighty-four or five 
thousand are dwellings, over five thousand business build- 
ings, and the remainder churches and schools. Within the 
last twelve years permits have been granted for the erection 
of nearly nineteen thousand of these buildings, besides a 
great number of improvements and alterations, and the cost 
has amounted to something very near $36,000,000. 

The later buildings have been of rather a finer character 
architecturally than was formerly the case. The new Bal- 




c 



PUBLIC AND RECENT BUILDINGS. 457 

timore shows more plainly the influence of modern taste 
and more luxurious needs, and the demands of her growing 
prosperity are promptly met by increased facilities and 
inducements to business men and investors. 

Within her thirty-five square miles, Baltimore hums like a 
busy hive. 

Her two hundred miles or more of horse, cable and 
electric railways, her well lighted thoroughfares and busy 
avenues of trade, her homes and halls and churches, all 
speak of a city that has outgrown the restrictions of earlier 
years and has fully and fairly entered the contest for posi- 
tion with the first American cities. 

The City Hall, which was commenced in 1866 and fin- 
ished in 1875, is a building of which any city might justly 
be proud. In connection with it a little anecdote is told 
which is not without humor. A gentleman from New 
York was regarding its fair proportions admiringly when 
a friend said to him : 

" That is the most remarkable building in the country." 

" In what way ? " 

" Why, when it was completed there was money to return 
on the appropriation." 

The New Yorker looked pityingly at the great building 
for a few moments and then murmured softly : " Baltimore 
has a great deal to learn." 

The architect of the City Hall was G. A. Frederick. 
The total amount expended upon it was $2,271,000, a 
portion of which was paid for the ground and old buildings 
which stood upon it. It occupies the block between Hol- 
liday, North, Lexington and Fayette Streets and covers 
twenty-nine thousand square feet. The style is French 
Renaissance, with ornamental facade, Mansard roofs, etc. 
The centre part is four stories high, well relieved with col- 



458 BALTIMORE. 

umns, arches, etc., breaking the monotony of such amass of 
masonry to the eye. It is faced with Baltimore County 
marble and is magnificent in detail and effect. There is a 
cupola or iron dome and cage resting upon a base of mar- 
ble, the height of the top of the dome being two hundred 
and sixty feet above the street level. It is one hundred 
and seventy feet in circumference, and consumed in its con- 
struction over six hundred tons of iron. There is a pro- 
jecting balcony which presents a noble view of the city. 

Within, the customary offices of city police and fire 
departments are grouped around a central court, and the 
beauty and honesty of the workmanship cannot fail to com- 
mend themselves to the eye and favor of the discriminating 
visitor. 

Just opposite the City Hall is the post-office building, 
erected by the United States Government — a beautiful 
structure built in the same style as the City Hall, but with 
a somewhat different treatment. Its cost was over a million 
dollars and its appointments for all post-office purposes are 
well nigh perfect. Besides the apartments devoted to the 
post-office service, other United States Government offices 
are in this building. 

In the neighborhood of the City Hall and post-office some 
of the notable buildings of the city are being erected. First 
among these is the office building that occupies the site of 
the old Barnum's Hotel, of which I shall give a description. 
There are other improvements being made in this neighbor- 
hood and it is reasonable to expect that in time it will 
become a handsome business square, such as one would 
naturally expect to find in the centre of a great city. 

The Maryland Club building, situated upon the corner of 
Charles and Eager Streets, is by many people considered 
not only the most beautiful building used for a secular pur- 



PUBLIC AND RECENT BUILDINGS. 459 

pose in our city, but also one of the most beautiful club 
building's in the country. It is of white marble, modified 
Romanesque in style, and well proportioned. An octagon 
tower forms the northwest angle, and affords to each of the 
three stories a large bay. The arches of the deeply- 
recessed doorway and art windows which flank it are beau- 
tifully designed, and the effect of the whole facade is at 
once noble and chaste. 

Among the noblest in the purpose for which it was 
erected, and not the least so in its architectural beauty and 
magnitude, is the Johns Hopkins Hospital, on Broadway 
between Monument and Jefferson Streets. There are four- 
teen buildings connected under one general and symmetri- 
cal plan, the frontage amounting to seven hundred and 
nine feet on Broadway, and extends back eight hundred 
and fifty-six feet. The administration building, apotheca- 
ry's building, pathological building, dispensary, kitchen, 
various wards, etc., all so artistically grouped, and the man- 
sards, dome, gables and chimneys break the sky line so 
agreeably that from distant parts of the city the Johns 
Hopkins Hospital is a striking and attractive feature in tin- 
view. 

Among the recent improvements which Baltimore can 
boast are some of the finest buildings ever erected in the 
South. It is a significant fact that while the other cities 
south of Mason and Dixon's line point with pride to their 
new hotels and hostelries, our modern improvements have 
rather taken the direction of bank and business buildings. 

A hotel is, doubtless, a fine thing for the travelling pub- 
lic, but the travelling public comes, as a rule, from some 
other place, and if it has any interest whatever in the place 
at which it puts up, it is to make all it can out of it. To 
be sure, the Rennert Hotel has an addition recently made 



460 BALTIMORE. 

which is an admitted improvement, and other properties 
of a like nature are not by an) - means to be despised ; but 
we feel more interest in such buildings as the Equitable, 
or the new Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, because the)' 
represent the intrinsic business growth and energy of the 
place. 

The recently completed ten-story structure on the site of 
the historic Barnum's Hotel, on the corner of Calvert and 
Fayette Streets, is one of the latest expressions of commer- 
cial confidence on the part of property holders. It is un- 
equalled in size and architecture by any office building south 
of New York City, being 117 feet on Calvert Street by 
203 feet on Fayette, absolutely fire-proof, with every con- 
venience and appliance known to modern science. 

Because of the importance of this leading effort to supply 
the demand which the rapid growth of the city has created, 
I append a technical description of the Equitable building. 

The general scheme adopted for its construction is similar 
to that of many of the large structures in the East and 
West, and known as the "cage" form, a system of columns 
and girders beingemployed to support the entire floor loads 
and interior of the building throughout, the outside walls 
being of a thickness sufficient to support their own weight 
and that of the ornamental overhansfino; cornices. The 
constructional columns are built within these walls, and rise 
in sections from the foundation piers to the top of the walls. 
At each floor these columns are securely bolted together 
and arranged to receive the heavy girder beams which sup- 
port the floor beams, all braced and anchored and bolted 
together, thus forming a complete iron cage, self-supporting 
and entirely independent of the walls, which perform the 
duty of screens only, anil which could be removed without 
weakening or disturbing the interior of the structure. The 



PUBLIC AND RECENT BUILDINGS. 461 

building" is of the very best materials throughout. The forma- 
tion of the floors, arches or spaces between the beams, 
which are left on centres, is accomplished by the use of the 
new tile arch process, which is known to possess great 
strength, produces no thrust on the walls and is the lightest 
in weight of all materials heretofore used for this purpose ; the 
ceilings under this arrangement will be domical in form and 
give a very beautiful appearance when decorated. There are 
two entrances, one on Calvert Street and one in the centre of 
the Fayette Street facade, opening each through a stone and 
mosaic-lined vestibule to the main corridor or lobby. This, 
which is twenty-eight feet wide, and across corridor twelve 
feet wide, together give access to six elevators. At the end 
of the main corridor a grand staircase ascends from base- 
ment to roof. On each side of this corridor are located large 
banking-rooms, forty-three feet by ninety-three feet, and for 
the main story with a ceiling thirty-one feet high. These 
rooms are wainscoted in polished marble, and in finish and 
style and appointments are the best in the country. The rear 
portion of the building in the Fayette Street side, divided 
into five large offices, is entered directly from the street. 
On the opposite side of the light court and opening to 
Bank lane are the cafe, billiard-room and barber-shop. 

The upper floors, except the ninth, which is specially 
arranged as described below, are partitioned oft into offices 
of various sizes. The top floor contains a restaurant and 
cafe, forty-four feet by ninety-five feet, overlooking the 
Baltimore & Ohio building. 

The main staircase extends up to the roof garden, the 
floor of which is of tiles laid with a very slight grade and 
surrounded with a parapet wall about three and a halt feet 
high. From this point a magnificent view of the harbor 
and shipping and all the surrounding country can be ob- 
tained. 



462 BALTIMORE. 

The basement contains Turkish bath accommodations 
with all the latest appliances and conveniences. 

Mail chutes are provided from each story leading to the 
regular United States mail collection box, located near the 
Fayette-Street entrance, from which the regular collections 
will be made. 

The materials for the outside of the building is Worces- 
ter mottled granite for the walls of the basement and the 
first and second stories. The walls above this point are of 
buff bricks, and all quoins, string courses, voussoires and 
the entire main entrance, all of which will be richly orna- 
mented, will be of white terra-cotta. 

The style of this beautiful building is Italian Renaissance. 
It is an object of beauty, and fills the place which the his- 
toric hotel, which so many thousands of Baltimore's visitors 
in times past will remember, occupied for so many eventful 
years. 

The directors of the Calvert Building & Construction 
Co. are William A. Fisher, president ; Daniel E. Conklin, 
vice-president and general manager ; Lawrason Riggs, sec- 
retary and treasurer: James A. Grey, William H. Whit- 
ridgfe, Thomas K. Worthingrton, William C. Seddon, Edwin 
F. Abell, Ferdinand C. Latrobe, of Baltimore, and Edward 
B. Smith, of Philadelphia. 

Very different in its architectural style, but not less an 
object of interest and beauty, is the new building of the 
Farmers' and Merchants' National Bank, where the state 
funds are kept, and where the merchant of Baltimore also 
deposits with a confidence which his knowledge of the 
institution and its directors warrants. 

The building, which is Romanesque in style, is on the 
corner of South and Lombard Streets. Its material is 
Potomac red Seneca stone, and admirably fitted for such 




Kaminsaky Inn. 



PUBLIC AND RECENT BUILDINGS. 463 

a purpose by its beauty and adaptability to artistic 
effects. 

The most prominent feature is the turret which makes 
the angle of the building toward the intersection of the two 
streets, and this forms a bay window for the confer room 
on each story above the first. 

The entrance is a whole archway on South Street, sup- 
ported on columns and opening into a large vestibule, 
finished in stone, from which entrance to the bank and 
offices is gained. The bank room is fitted in marble and 
quartered oak and wrought-iron grilles or rails. 

The ample and well-lighted vaults occupy the centre of 
the main room and are brilliantly lighted. The offices, 
finely appointed, are easy of access. The building is fire- 
proof throughout, with iron floors, etc. It is one hundred 
feet high, and overlooks Exchange Place. 

Another imposing building devoted to financial purposes 
is that of the old Central Saving's Bank. This bank is an 
institution whose history is hardly less venerable than that 
of Baltimore's present commercial life. The Central Sav- 
ings Bank was organized in 1854, being then known as the 
Dime Savings Bank. Its recent contribution to the archi- 
tecture of the city is proof of its standing. Its entrance is 
at the intersection of Charles and Lexington Streets, from 
which corner it extends for sixty-three feet on Lexington 
and seventy-five feet on Charles Streets. It is fire-proof, 
built of brownstone and pressed brick, and is an imposing 
structure. 

On the same streets at the opposite corner, a nine-story 
building is a recent erection. It is owned by " The Fidelity 
and Deposit Company," and facing these two, the Builders' 
Exchange Association has followed suit with another orna- 
mental structure. 



464 BALTIMORE. 

The New American Bank building', situated at the cor- 
ner of Gay and High Streets, was opened in July, '92, for 
business. It is a very well planned structure, fronting 27 
feet on Gay Street and extends on High Street 96 feet. It 
is but two stories in height, the basement being designed 

ft O ' OO 

for the use of the Economy Savings Bank. The base is 
granite and Indiana limestone and the upper part Pom- 
peiian and buff brick, the whole effect being very pleasing. 
All of the interior work is of the finest quality, finished in 
quartered oak, rose and Sienna marble, cream-colored til- 
ing and handsome frescoes. 

The officers of this bank are Joshua Horner, President ; 
Simon P. Schott, Cashier and John T. Stone Asst. Cashier. 
Both the Border State Savings Bank and the Drovers' and 
Mechanics' Bank have new buildings in construction, the first 
being on the northwest corner of Fayette Street and Park 
Avenue and the latter to be at Fayette and Eutaw Streets. 
The Border State Bank's home will be of granite and red 
sandstone trimming on a body of pressed brick, and the 
corner, which is a square tower, will be capped by a peaked 
corrugated tiled roof. The interior of the building will be 
in keeping with the outside. The other bank alluded t<> 
has adopted plans which follow the Italian Renaissance. 

One of the most imposing of the new structures in the 
city is the Law Building, just completed, at the corner of 
Paul and Lexington Streets. Charles E. Cassell is the 
architect, and his design shows originality and beauty, the 
fronts of the building facing the two streets being of Port 
Deposit granite and Baltimore cream-colored pressed brick. 
There are five stories in all, the lower ones being in deep 
relief while those above are lighter and airy in effect. The 
building has two broad entrances which each lead to a cen- 
tral court where are found the stairway and elevators. The 



PUBLIC AXD RECENT BUILDINGS. 465 

floors and stairway are of blue stone and the surrounding 
galleries are of iron, the whole structure being" fire-proof. 
Richly carved entablature and ornamental columns give an 
inviting appearance to the entrances, while the vestibules 
are finished in Italian and other marbles and the large cor- 
ner room upon the first floor, taken by the New York Life 
Insurance Company, is entered by a separate vestibule on 
the Lexington Street side. This also is finished in marble. 
The offices in the basement are spacious and light while the 
office accommodations on each of the seven stories are 
admirably adapted to business purposes. As the name 
implies, this building was especially intended to afford a 
group of offices centrally located for legal gentlemen, and 
the basement apartments adapted for use for magistrates 
and other public servants. The steam heating appliances 
are as perfect as can be made and the material of which 
the edifice is constructed has been for the most part sup- 
plied by Baltimore firms, whose reputation is a guarantee of 
the integrity of their work. Altogether the Law Building 
is one in which those who are interested in the material 
growth of the city can honestly take pride. 

This is also the case with the Fidelity and Deposit Com- 
pany's new building on the northwest corner of Charles 
and Lexington Streets, which is now in course of construc- 
tion. It deserves more than passing mention because of 
the care with which every provision is being made to render 
it one of the most complete structures planned for such a 
business, in the country, as well as an object of architectural 
beauty. The home of a deposit company must be more 
than a handsome building — it is necessary that it should be 
as absolutely safe a one as the art of man can make it. 
General Clinton P. Paine, the president of the company, is 
chairman of the building committee, and has devoted with 



466 BALTIMORE. 

his co-workers an immense amount of care and attention to 
the examination of plans and appliances, so that it is safe to 
say that no security that modern skill and experience can 
supply will be lacking when the structure is completed. 
The foundations of the building are of granite, as are also 
the walls, the roof being of red Spanish tin tile, mansard in 
form. Inside, the finish will be of marble and iron and 
care is being taken to render the entire edifice perfectly 
fire-proof. 

On the first floor, where the Fidelity and Deposit Com- 
pany will have its home, will be regular banking, security 
and safe deposit departments, each perfectly equipped and 
although separate from each other yet so arranged that one 
general office will have supervision over all. Besides the 
usual accommodations, which are planned on a scale of 
elegance which a few years ago was unheard of in business 
houses, there will be separate parlors and accommodations 
in each department for the company's lady clients. 

The Hotel Rennert has also added largely to its original 
building within recent months, and other hotels are making 
or have made inprovements, while some new ones have 
sprung up, but the purposes of a hotel are hardly those 
which illustrate the fact of commercial and business growth 
which I wish to emphasize in this chapter. I have not 
enumerated, as indeed I have had no purpose in doing the 
full number of new buildings which have recently been 
erected here, this being neither a guide-book nor a business 
directory. The more important purpose which I have in 
view is to show that the growth which we Baltimoreans 
claim for the city is not a boom, but an actual healthy in- 
crease of prosperity, of commercial activity, of manufacture, 
of all those thing's which go to make a strong, live, modern 
city. I wish to show a reason for the faith that is in me 



PUBLIC AND RECENT BUILDINGS. 467 

that no man need be ashamed to say, in any city of the 
country or of the world, " I am of Baltimore." It is possible 
that the men of a future generation may find an occasional 
copy of this book in the libraries, and may discover in the 
details I have given something by which to measure the 
growth of the city as it is passing from the nineteenth 
century into the twentieth. 

Recently the arduous work of moving Levering Hall to 
make room for the new McCoy Hall has been accomplished 
with very little damage beyond the cracking of a few 
stones, the material of the trimming of the building being 
a New Hampshire brownstone, which is rather more pretty 
than durable. 

Gradually, the University property has been added to; 
slowly, but surely, the buildings are spreading over more 
and more ground, till it is not unlikely that in the end the 
predictions of partial prophets will be realized, and the 
(ohns Hopkins real estate will be worth a million dollars 
more than the original plant. No one will grieve to see 
such a result, for the spirit of the great university is making 
itself felt in many ways throughout the city, and it is one 
of the institutions which one may be proud of without one 
single reservation. 

But the City College property, just next door to the 
main building of the Johns Hopkins University, has not 
had so fortunate a time. 

The building of the underground belt road in that part 
of the city had menaced a number of buildings, and indica- 
tions were not wanting that foundations had been weak- 
ened and walls rendered insecure by the tunneling. At 
last, one day the college building gave unmistakeable evi- 
dence that it was so weakened as to be unsafe. It settled 
and cracked till there was nothing to be done but to destrov 



■ 

4 68 BALTIMORE. 

it entirely. This was accomplished by a judicious use of 
dynamite, which blew out most of the front and left the 
rest in a tottering- condition, just ready to collapse but for 
the beams and joists with which the workmen shored it up. 
The work of demolition rapidly followed. 

Other buildings than those which I have mentioned are 
either in process of construction or are projected. 

********* 

Enough has been said, I think, to show how real and 
substantial has been the recent development of the city. 
Step by step I have recalled for my readers, as far as I 
have been able, the events of a lifetime, and I have tried 
at the same time to show how the efforts of Baltimore's 
business men have supplemented the advantages of its geo- 
graphical position and the foundation of prosperity which 
was laid by the fathers. If I have interested others in my 
recollections of Baltimore, I have accomplished all that an 
author could hope to do. 



1901 








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